MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Thursday that the state Grand Jury for Shelby County had indicted a man who owes in excess of $1.3 million in child support in Shelby County on six criminal charges.

The Grand Jury indicted William Richard Butler on December 13 for three counts of flagrant nonsupport, a class E felony, and three counts of non support, a class A misdemeanor. Butler was apprehended Thursday in Pinellas County, Florida.  Under Tennessee law, an indictment is not public record until the defendant is in custody on the charges.

Butler could face up to nine years in prison if convicted on all counts. (The standard sentence for a class E felony is 1-2 years; a class A misdemeanor is 12 months, 29 days.) Butler will be returned to Shelby County to face prosecution on these charges.

According to the indictment, Butler has failed to pay court-ordered child support for his three children since October 1994.  The indictments also allege that he unlawfully left and remained outside of the state of Tennessee to avoid his legal duty to pay the support.

“This is not only an egregious offense that has gone on for years and years, but a show of blatant disregard for the law.  The Department of Children Services’ Child Support Services Division has done a thorough investigation, and we believe we have a very strong case against Mr. Butler,” said District Attorney Gibbons.

Assistant District Attorney Linda Kirklen, chief prosecutor of the D.A.’s White Collar Crime Unit will prosecute this case.