Silver Spring Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison For Receiving Child Pornography
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Carlton Williams, age 40, of Silver Spring, Maryland, today to five years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography. Judge Titus ordered that upon his release from prison, Williams must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge John Wagner of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Washington Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations.
According to the plea agreement, Williams purchased a membership to a website that offered images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. When he was interviewed on February 8, 2011, Williams admitted that he had been downloading child pornography since 2001. A subsequent forensic analysis of Williams’ computer and DVDs revealed over 6,000 images and 100 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including prepubescent children under the age of 12.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
This investigation was part of Operation Flicker, a nationwide ICE HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form at http://www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended NCIS and HSI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas, who prosecuted the case.
