BLACKSHEAR, Ga. – A 19-year-old Blackshear man was sentenced last week to 17 1/2 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography.
Devin Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography in January. He will be required to register as a sex offender.
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According to the evidence presented at Williams's plea and sentencing hearings, between March and July 2013, Williams, while in both the Blackshear and Brunswick areas, exchanged email messages with various individuals to trade child porn.
When his computer and mobile devices were searched pursuant to federal search warrants, agents found hundreds of images depicting child sexual abuse.
In addition, the evidence revealed that in July 2013, Williams engaged in a number of email chats with an individual in Maine who is facing federal charges there and was actively molesting children in his care. Through those emails, Williams requested and received a number of images depicting the sexual molestation of those children.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Williams, who had been in custody since his arrest in October, was returned to the custody of the United States Marshal Service to serve his sentence.
"It is disturbing that someone so young would engage in trading images of child pornography and would seek images from an active child molester," U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver said. "His conduct exemplifies how those who seek out these images, either directly or indirectly, encourage others to create more images, and perpetuate the horrific victimization of young children."