HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Henrico County man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to solicitation of minors and possession of child pornography.
David Williams, 23, was sentenced on five counts of using a communications system to solicit a minor and five counts of possession of child pornography.
“Individuals like this who take advantage of children, rob them of their innocence, and exploit them must be brought to justice and held accountable for their actions,” said Attorney General Herring. “I’m glad my team was able to secure this strong sentence that will take this dangerous individual off of our streets and out of our communities, making our children safer. I want to thank our local, state, and federal partners for their help and dedication on this case.”
Prosecutors say the investigation into Williams began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, located in Alexandria, received a tip that an individual had uploaded suspected child pornography into an email account.
The account was identified as belonging to David Williams.
Around the same time, an Aurora County, Colorado police detective examined a cell phone as part of a child pornography investigation and recovered an online chat between a Colorado suspect and David Williams where they discussed trading child pornography.
In subsequent interview with officers, Williams admitted to possessing child porn.
A forensic examination of Williams’ cell phone revealed that he had saved approximately 500 child pornography images.
Investigators also recovered chats between Williams and minor boys where Williams sent them nude pictures of himself and requested that the minors send him sexually explicit images and engage in sex acts.
Upon his release, Williams will be placed on supervised probation and required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction where he lives or works.
