Hartford Man Admits Possessing Sexual Abuse Videos and Images

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JONATHAN WILLIAMS, 33, of Hartford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to a child exploitation offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has been investigating a network of individuals who have been using private groups on an internet chat application to share images and videos of child sexual abuse.  The investigation revealed that an account associated with Williams was an active member of one of these groups, and that Williams was convicted in 2015 in North Carolina of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree.

On June 1, 2023, investigators conducted a court authorized search of Williams’ residence.  Williams was arrested at that time after a preliminary review of his laptop revealed videos of child sex abuse.  Subsequent analysis of his laptop and iPhone revealed more than 1,500 videos and 7,000 images depicting child pornography, including videos and images of sadistic and masochistic conduct and other depictions of violence and sexual abuse of infants and toddlers.

Williams pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  The penalties in this matter are enhanced based on Williams’ prior conviction in North Carolina.

Williams has been detained since his arrest.

This matter has been investigated by HSI with the assistance of the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations, the Connecticut State Police, and the Hartford and Westport Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.