COVID-19 Update >> We Are Open 24/7
Helping Survivors & Families Recover
(866) 577-2786
24/7 Sexual Abuse Helpline
Menu
BECAUSE WE BELIEVE YOU

Former Florida Police Officer Gets Life In Prison For Child Pornography

Michael Haggard Miami Florida Sexual Abuse Lawyer
Michael Haggard - FL Abuse Guardian

Hi - I’m Michael. I’m an experienced attorney licensed to practice law in Florida. My team and I have the resources and the skill to handle sexual assault cases. Our goal is to bring every client justice. My team and I are here to help.

Get Justice Now
(866) 577-2786

An ex-police officer from Florida has been sentenced to life in prison for hiring a mother in Texas to sexually abuse her 3-year-old daughter and send him pictures of the molestation, according to the New York Post.

Former officer Michael Eugene Williams, who worked for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, pleaded guilty to the offense in June 2017.

Ex-Police Officer Convicted On Child Pornography Charges

The sentencing comes after a nearly two-year investigation, sparked by a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a non-profit funded, in part, by the Department of Justice with the mission of eliminating child sexual exploitation.

Boys & Girls Clubs Of America Sexual Assault: Survivors Can Take Legal Action

"Our alliance has over 15 sexual abuse lawyers nationwide dedicated to helping survivors get justice" 
- Michael Haggard

The tip, the source of which has not been released, led officers from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to Williams’ home, where investigators believed the former police officer was using his personal computer to upload child pornography onto a Google Drive account. There, officials discovered more than 450 images and videos of child pornography on Williams’ cell phone, the New York Post writes.

UK Charity Finds Drastic Increase In Child Sexual Abuse Images Online, continue reading here. 

Texts Reveal Exploitation Of 3-Year-Old Texas Girl

They also found Williams’ cell phone and tablet, which revealed, as Justice Department officials wrote in a press release to mark the man’s arrest, “that Williams had been communicating by text message with a woman in Texas who had a 3-year-old daughter.” Subsequent investigations found that the Texas mother had been producing pornographic images involving her daughter and selling them to Williams.

Text messages found on Williams’ cell phone showed the man describing sexual conduct he “wished to engage in” with the 3-year-old girl. Between January and July 2016, prosecutors say, Williams and the Texas mother exchanged nearly 340 text messages, most sexual in nature, about the woman’s daughter. The former police officer paid the girl’s mother through Western Union wire transfers, mainly using money from his Sheriff’s Office retirement pension.

Do You Qualify?

  • Info
  • Incident
  • Submit

Free 
Confidential 
Consultation 

Internet Criminal
Begin Your Path To Healing & Justice
(866) 577-2786

Federal Officials Arrest Mother

Working in coordination with agents at US Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office successfully identified the woman and attained a search warrant for her home. The child was removed from his mother’s home by Texas law enforcement officials.

The mother eventually admitted to the crime, saying she had recently contacted Williams about a new delivery of child pornography. She pleaded guilty on two counts of production of child pornography and was sentenced to 60 years in prison by the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

“One Of The Most Heinous Crimes Imaginable”

Williams himself was arrested on October 21, 2016. He pleaded guilty to the commercial sex trafficking of a child in June 2017.

And now, Judge Marcia Morales Howard for the US District Court of Florida has sentenced Williams to life imprisonment. “This is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable,” says James C. Spero, a Special Agent for Homeland Security Investigations’ Tampa office. “Thanks to HSI special agents and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, this criminal will no longer be able to sexually abuse children.”

Alongside a life in prison, Williams has been ordered to pay $194,905.17 in financial restitution to the child, now 4-years-old, who he abused.

Project Safe Childhood

The conviction and sentencing of Michael Eugene Williams is another step in the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative established in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation.

Focusing on internet-based crimes, the project combines federal funding and leadership from the Department of Justice with the efforts of a wide range of local and state organizations, both governmental and private sector.

Sexual Exploitation Of Children Is Becoming More Common

In 2010, a report completed by officials at Project Safe Childhood confirmed what many advocates in the space had feared: child sexual exploitation is on the rise.

After an exhaustive analysis, government officials discovered year-on-year increases, sometimes substantial increases, in the prevalence of child pornography, child sex trafficking, sex tourism with child victims and the online enticement of children by sexual predators.

Thankfully, the initiative launched in 2006 appears to be working. Just three years after Project Safe Childhood was begun, prosecutions of sexual predators who abuse children had grown by 40%.

 

Do You Qualify?

  • Info
  • Incident
  • Submit

Free 
Confidential 
Consultation 

Call Today 
24/7 Free
Confidential
Consultations
(866) 577-2786
Proud Members Of The Following Trusted Organizations
Members of National Crime Victim Bar AssociationMembers Of American Bar AssociationMembers Of American Association For Justice
Contact Us Today For A Free Consultation
Call Our 24/7 Abuse Helpline Now
(866) 577-2786
© 2020 AbuseGuardian.com. All rights reserved.

AbuseGuardian.com is primarily sponsored by Brian D. Kent, Esq. Mr. Kent is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Content regarding these states has been reviewed by Mr. Kent. Content pertaining to all other states will identify the local lawyer who is part of the Abuse Guardian alliance that is responsible for that content. Abuse Guardian is an alliance of attorneys across the United States who dedicate their professional careers to representing survivors of sexual abuse and helping them get justice. This website is to be considered ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. Past settlement and verdict values are no guarantee of simlar future outcomes.Abuse Guardian is not a law firm. Abuse Guardian has a team of survivor advocates who can help connect sexual abuse survivors to members of the Abuse Guardian alliance for free legal consultations.

SitemapDisclaimer / Terms Of Service & Privacy Policy