Silver Spring Man Charged for Possessing Child Pornography

A Silver Spring man was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after he plead guilty to receiving child pornography.

Carlton Williams, 40, plead guilty to buying a membership to a website that offered images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. During a February 8 interview, he admitted to downloading child pornography since 2001. 

An investigation into Williams’ computer found DVDs that revealed over 6,000 images and 100 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including prepubescent children under the age of 12.

When he is released, Williams will be under supervision for 10 years. This process includes registration 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).

This case is a part of the Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice—which combats the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

This case is also a part of an investigation by Operation Flicker, a nationwide ICE HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators. It includes 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. 

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.