Former Lawrence County Man Sentenced To Prison For Failing To Register As A Sex Offender

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Lawrence County has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months imprisonment, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of failure to register as a sex offender, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond imposed the sentence on James Andrew Williams, 45

According to information presented to the court, between Dec. 1, 2009, until March 2, 2010, Williams failed to register as a sex offender, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the United States Marshals Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Williams.

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.justice.gov/psc.