News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
November 30, 2007
Southborough man, former selectman,
is sentenced for sexually soliciting a minor
A federal judge today sentenced William Christensen, 61, of Southborough, Massachusetts, to five years in federal prison for soliciting sex with a minor over the Internet and attempting to arrange a meeting with a minor for sex. The purported minor in question was an undercover Rhode Island State Police detective posing over the Internet as a 15-year old girl.
United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced the sentence, which Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi imposed in U.S. District Court, Providence. Judge Lisi also imposed on Christensen ten years of supervision after he is released from prison. During that time, he must avoid unmonitored contact with minors and cannot access the Internet without approval from the Probation Office.
In August, Christensen pleaded guilty to two charges: traveling interstate to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, and using a facility of interstate commerce – the Internet – to entice a minor to engage in sex.
At the plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly said the government could prove that, in May 2006, a Rhode Island parent detected inappropriate sexual overtures in an Internet chat room. After confirming her suspicions through an exchange of messages, the parent contacted the Rhode Island State Police. A detective, posing as the 15-year old, continued the chat room conversation with the poster, who identified himself as a 59-year old man and arranged a meeting in East Providence for a sexual encounter. State Police detectives arrested Christensen when he arrived at the East Providence location on May 17, 2006.
The Rhode Island State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation of Christensen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Donnelly prosecuted it, in partnership with Assistant Rhode Island Attorney General Ronald Gendron, as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative focusing on Internet-based crimes against children. One component of Project Safe Childhood is joint review of sexual exploitation cases by the U.S. Attorney and the Rhode Island Attorney General to determine whether to prosecute a case in federal or state court.
Christensen must report to prison on December 28. In the interim, he is confined to his home.
In addition to the FBI and the State Police, more than a dozen federal, state, and municipal law enforcement agencies comprise the Project Safe Childhood partnership in Rhode Island, through the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force.