Maryland man sentenced to prison for receiving child pornography

GREENBELT, Md. – A Silver Spring, Md., man was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

Carlton Williams, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus, who 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).

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 Feb. 8, 2011, Williams admitted that he had been downloading child pornography since 2001. A subsequent forensic analysis of Williams' computer and DVDs revealed more than 6,000 images and 100 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including prepubescent children under the age of 12.

This investigation is part of HSI's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

The investigation was conducted by HSI Baltimore and NCIS Washington Field Office.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas.