Arizona man sentenced to over 8 years in prison in child sexual abuse material case

PHOENIX — A Pima man was sentenced to over eight years in prison for possessing child sex abuse materials, authorities announced on Friday.

A federal judge in Arizona sentenced 36-year-old Eric Lavon Williams to 97 months in prison, according to the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

He pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly accessing child pornography on July 12, 2023, prosecutors said. After he is released from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender. He’ll also be on supervised release for the rest of his life.

How did investigators catch Pima man accused of having and sharing child pornography?

A cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children first alerted authorities of his actions in April 2022.

As authorities executed a June 2022 search warrant, they found out that he had not only accessed child pornography, but he had also distributed it.

He used multiple online platforms to share the files, prosecutors said.

Authorities also discovered his wife had obtained child pornography and sent it to her husband. She pleaded guilty in July 2023, and will be sentenced in April of this year.

The Douglas office of Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation in this case.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, which started in May 2006. It used federal, state and local resources to better find and prosecutor people who exploit children over the internet.

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