GREEN RIVER — William Duncan will spend the next 21 to 30 years in prison after receiving his sentence from District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson Thursday afternoon.

Duncan, 50, was found guilty of six counts of felony sexual exploitation of children, as well as charges of misdemeanor endangering children and unlawful contact, at the end of a jury trial July 9. Robinson dealt with the two misdemeanor charges first, sentencing Duncan to 180 days in jail, with credit for 144 days served. Duncan’s prison sentence was issued to be served consecutively to the misdemeanor sentence.

He was sentenced to between seven and 10 years in prison for the first count of sexual exploitation of children; seven to 10 years for the second count, to be served consecutively to the first count; seven to 10 years for the third count, to be served consecutively to the first two counts; seven to 10 years for the fourth count, to be served consecutively with counts one and three, but concurrently to count two; seven to 10 years for count five, to be served consecutively with counts one and three, but concurrently with counts two and four; and seven to 10 years for count six, to be served consecutive to all other counts, but was suspended with Duncan to be placed on five years supervised probation upon his release. Once Duncan fulfills his misdemeanor sentence at the Sweetwater County Detention Center, he will be transported to the Wyoming Department of Corrections. He was also ordered to pay $1,325 in fines and fees.

The Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office initially recommended a sentence of 144 days for the two misdemeanors, while seeking 10-12 years in prison for each count, with the first three counts running consecutive to one another and the final three counts being consecutive to count three, but concurrent to each other and suspended, with Duncan being placed on three years supervised probation. Prosecutor Micaela Lira said the county attorney’s office has seen an uptick of sexual exploitation cases and argued that a message needs to be sent that such crimes should not be condoned. 

“We don’t ask for these sentences lightly,” she said.

At the start of the hearing, the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office introduced a series of text messages between Duncan and the main underage victim that showed conversations progressively becoming more sexually explicit as time progressed. Green River Police Department Detective Martha Holzgrafe was called as a witness to read the messages in court and speak about them. Victim impact statements were also read by two victims in the case. One of the victims said they hope he remains in prison for the rest of his life, where he would be unable to hurt or manipulate anyone else.

The effects of what happened are far reaching.

District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson

Duncan’s attorney argued for a split sentence, citing progress Duncan has made in seeing a therapist and saying Duncan is already receiving punishment having become a social pariah and that his chances of being a businessman are over. Duncan spoke and expressed tearful remorse for his actions.

“I will never forgive myself for the hurt that I have brought …,” Duncan said. 

Following a recess, Robinson addressed Duncan. Robinson said she agreed with the county attorney’s office’s sentencing recommendation for the misdemeanors, but said the crimes Duncan committed victimized four children and as such, believed four sentences needed to be issued. Robinson said she doesn’t think someone reading about a lengthy prison sentence associated with sexual exploitation crimes will deter anyone from committing similar crimes as they’ve likely been happening since the dawn of time. While she said there are some factors that mitigate her sentencing decision, the crimes and how they have impacted a greater number of people, as well as the need to protect the victims from him, also motivate her decision.

“The manipulation … is really aggravating. It was just years of manipulation that occurred,” Robinson said. “The effects of what happened are far reaching.”

Robinson said the text messages introduced Thursday were worse than evidence brought against Duncan during his trial and said he could have prevented everything that happened to everyone involved, including himself.