Former North Texas special needs instructor sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas — A former North Texas special needs instructor who admitted sexually exploiting children was sentenced Tuesday to serve 60 years)in federal prison.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.  The following agencies investigated the case:  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Mansfield (Texas) Independent School District’s Police Department, the Mansfield Police Department and the Tarrant County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office.

Kelly Dan Williams Jr., 62, has been in custody since his arrest in June 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint.  Williams Jr. is a former special needs instructor at Mansfield ISD’s Mary Orr Intermediate School. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth in July 2015 on two counts of sexual exploiting children; he pleaded guilty to that indictment in January 2016.  U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means sentenced him to 360 months on each of those to counts, which will run consecutively.

According to documents filed in the case, on June 1, 2015, an individual at Mary Orr Intermediate School observed Williams Jr. performing a sex act on an 11-year-old male student in a school bathroom stall.  This individual reported this to the school’s administration, and Williams Jr. was directed to report to the Human Resources office.

Mansfield Police obtained a search warrant for Williams Jr.’s, residence, where they seized electronic storage devices, to include an SD card.  A forensic examination revealed that a video located on the SD card depicted Williams Jr. performing a sex act on a minor male, who appears to be younger than age 12, in what appears to be a school bathroom stall.  Further forensic analysis indicates that the video was created on or about Feb. 3, 2010.

Williams admitted that on Jan. 13, 2010, he used a minor boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct that he video-recorded.  He further admitted that on Feb. 3, 2010, he used a minor boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him and video-recorded that conduct.

Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem, Northern District of Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.