Jacksonville, Florida – Officials charged Michael Eugene Williams, 59, of Jacksonville with publishing a notice seeking child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. If convicted on all counts, Williams faces a minimum mandatory term of 20 years, up to 60 years, in federal prison.
According to the complaint, on July 7, 2016, officers from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Williams’s residence after receiving information that he was uploading child pornography for sharing to Google Drive. During the execution of the warrant, agents seized electronic devices, including a cellphone and a tablet that had been identified as belonging to Williams. The forensic examination of these devices revealed that Williams had been communicating by text message with a woman in Texas who had a 3-year-old daughter. The woman was producing pornographic images of her daughter and sending them to Williams in exchange for money that Williams sent to her via Western Union.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was able to identify the woman in Texas and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Jacksonville and Dallas coordinated with the Cleburne Police Department (Texas) to obtain a search warrant for the woman’s residence. During an interview with her, she admitted to sending sexually explicit images of her daughter to Williams in exchange for money. She also stated that she had recent contact with Williams using a messaging app.
Law enforcement officers obtained a federal search warrant for Williams’s residence and seized a cellphone that belonged to him. A preliminary examination of the phone revealed additional images of child pornography received from the woman in Texas, as well as explicit chats of sexual conduct Williams wished to engage in with the child.
Williams has been arrested and is being held pending a detention hearing.
