Air Force Officer Charged with Sexually Exploiting Toddlers, Children to Make Pornography

A U.S. Air Force officer working at Andrews Air Force Base faces child pornography-related charges after prosecutors say the man sent pictures to an undercover officer of minors - one of a child less than a year old.

A federal grand jury in Greenbelt Monday indicted William S. Gazafi, 44, of Lusby, MD, on six counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography.

The criminal complaint lays out an undercover operation in which an FBI officer posed as a participant in a chat room dedicated to incest.

From August 2011 through August 2013, the undercover officer carried on instant message conversations with a user who sent photographs of children bound and handcuffed while sleeping, according to the charging document. 

The user also sent three pornographic pictures that he told the undercover officer he created – one depicted a child as young as five-months-old, according to the charging document. 

The undercover officer earned the user’s trust by also sending photographs of young girls, but, according to the charging document, they were “morphed images,” not real children, used by law enforcement. 

In a transcript of an August 15 online chat, the user told the undercover officer that he was supposed to watch his friends’ 1- and 2-year-old daughters, but that the couple changed plans.

“I told them to pick a date when I get back and I’ll let them have a date night,” the user wrote, according to the charging document. The undercover officer replied, “You are trusted just like me know one would ever suspect that im a lil perv. [sic]”

The next day the FBI issued an emergency subpoena to Comcast. According to the charging document, Comcast identified the user as William Gazfi. 

Gazfi was arrested on Sept. 3, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and remains in custody.

According to the statement, if found guilty, Gazafi faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, followed by supervised release.