Prosecutors allege more Sean Williams child victims
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Federal prosecutors in the child pornography production case against former downtown Johnson Citian Sean Williams want to introduce new evidence not contained in his indictment — including images allegedly showing Williams sexually abusing two additional children.
PREVIOUS: Sean Williams indicted for child porn production
In their “notice of intent to offer evidence of other acts by the defendant,” Megan Gomez and Emily Swecker list nine separate pieces of evidence they claim show that Williams was involved in “activity … that is not part of the charged offenses.” Their notice claims the evidence should be admissible at Williams’ trial and is relevant to helping them prove their case without unfairly prejudicing his defense.
The proposed evidence includes, among other things, information:
That the child victims’ mothers didn’t know of their children’s victimization until being contacted by authorities after Williams was allegedly found with incriminating evidence on digital devices during his April 29, 2023 arrest in Cullowhee, N.C.
That video evidence shows the mothers themselves had been sexually assaulted by Williams while they were unconscious
That Williams possessed digital “collages” showing “an innocuous photo of a minor victim or mother surrounded by sexually explicit images of the child or mother.”
The notice also provides several new details into Williams 2023 arrest, which came nearly two years after he successfully avoided Johnson City Police Department’s attempt to serve a federal ammunition warrant on him at his downtown condominium.
Williams was indicted Sept. 12, 2023 and is scheduled for trial Oct. 22 on three federal counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of manufacturing child pornography. Conviction on any count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years.
Friday’s notice shows that prosecutors rely on two main foundations for the proposed evidence. The first is the alleged digital evidence itself from when Western Carolina University (WCU) police arrested Williams. The second is information gleaned during interviews with all three of the children’s mothers, all of whom agreed to speak to investigators and “told very similar stories.”
The admissibility question
The prosecutors wrote that they’re filing the notice “out of an abundance of caution” and argued that the nine specific pieces of evidence they plan to introduce meet the federal requirement for admitting evidence that isn’t charged in an indictment.
Rule 404(b) of the rules of federal evidence deals with such evidence, which is undeniably prejudicial to a defendant. Swecker and Gomez wrote that such evidence can’t be admitted just to prove a person’s character and “show action in conformity” with that character.
However, it can be admissible for purposes such as establishing motive, opportunity and intent, as well as preparation, knowledge, identity and “absence of mistake or accident.”
Judges apply a “three-part test” when deciding to allow this kind of evidence: whether the “other act” actually occurred; whether evidence of the other act helps establish a material issue in the case; and whether that “probative value” outweighs the potential prejudicial effect.
The prosecutors argue their request passes all three tests and that it helps prove Williams’ “motive, opportunity, preparation, plan, identity and absence of mistake.”
“I think the prosecution makes a very good argument for the admission of this evidence,” former federal prosecutor Corey Shipley told News Channel 11 Monday.
Shipley said Williams’ attorney will likely file a response and argue the evidence is inadmissible. Judge Ronnie Greer, Shipley said, will need to sift through the arguments and decide whether evidence of “previous bad acts” has enough ties to the crimes alleged in the indictment that it shouldn’t be thrown out for unfairly prejudicing Williams.
The evidence: 100,000-plus child pornography images, drugged women, unidentified child victims
Gomez and Swecker’s list starts with two items that illustrate the alleged scope of Williams’ possession of child sex pornography.
WCU police allegedly recovered several laptops, various hard drives and other “electronic storage media” when they arrested an unconscious Williams in a car parked at the Lena Davis Landing near the Tuckasegee River during a regular patrol in the wee hours of April 29.
Williams, who allegedly had $100,000 cash with him, was allegedly found passed out with a white powder substance on the car seat. In addition to 12 ounces of cocaine and 14 ounces of methamphetamine, Williams allegedly possessed clear capsules containing a designer drug called mephedrone.
The devices were in a “Faraday bag,” which is designed to shield electronic devices from electromagnetic fields and also prevent signals from entering or leaving the bag.
After obtaining a warrant to search the devices for evidence of drug dealing — Williams allegedly possessed more than three-quarters of a pound of both methamphetamine and cocaine — WCU officers found “videos of what appeared to be adult women being sexually assaulted, as well as Child Sexual Abuse Material” (CSAM) on two USB drives.
Investigators from Tennessee came to WCU to review the images and videos and allegedly found more than 10,000 images of CSAM, “as well as images and videos of approximately 64 adult females being sexually assaulted who appeared to be unconscious.”
Several of the other electronic devices searched contained more than 100,000 CSAM images and videos, prosecutors claim.
The USB drives first reviewed by WCU not only allegedly show images of the three minor victims, but “also contained videos and images of their mothers being sexually assaulted while they were obviously unconscious.”
Those USB drives also allegedly show several other images of two minor victims “that have yet to be identified,” and that those images “appear to be produced by the defendant and depict the minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Finally, with respect to the WCU evidence, the USB drives allegedly contain “numerous collages of produced images of Minor Victim 1 and 2” that were created on separate dates from when the images were produced.
In addition to the alleged digital evidence, prosecutors want to introduce evidence gained from interviews. These pieces of evidence include allegations:
That Williams frequently hosted parties at his apartment where he provided people with drugs and alcohol for free.
That at least two of the minor victims’ mothers believed they were drugged and “had trouble moving or lost consciousness.”
That the mother of one victim saw child pornography on Williams’ phone one day while at his apartment and that it “appeared to be produced by the defendant because it showed (part of Williams’ body) and his apartment.”
Gomez and Swecker’s notice states that they’ll provide further proof for the “three-factor test” of admissibility in additional filings, and in oral argument if Williams or his attorney objects to its admission.
They claim that the “background evidence” is “inextricably intertwined” with the three charged offenses. They also cite a previous case that found background evidence is relevant to cases that aim to protect the public from crimes of sexual violence “by permitting in sexual assault and child molestation cases … evidence that the defendant has committed offenses of the same type on other occasions.”
Shipley said prosecutors walk a fine line when trying to get 404(b) evidence admitted in a trial.
“You don’t want to be so aggressive that something gets before the jury that could cause a, a mistrial, or b, be grounds for an appeal … You want to be very careful and very detailed to the court to make sure that the court knows exactly what you’re going to present and why you’re going to present it,” Shipley said.
“There has to be a specific reason, in my opinion, that you have to articulate as a prosecutor to be able to get these 404(b) pieces of evidence in.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.