Jacksonville doctor pleads guilty to receipt of child pornography

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville doctor pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to receiving images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO).

Robert Davis Williams, 45, of Jacksonville, was charged with knowingly receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct over the Internet.

Williams faces a minimum of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, on Oct. 21, 2009, JSO received a complaint regarding possible child pornography at the residence of Williams. JSO officers responded to the residence, and detectives were shown a video file on a desktop computer belonging to Williams which depicted child pornography.

With the consent of an occupant of the residence, referred to in court documents as "the complainant," the detectives searched the residence and discovered hundreds of compact disks and DVDs containing pornography in Williams' residence and garage, along with hundreds of adult magazines. This search also revealed numerous floppy disks, zip disks, and VHS videotapes which contained pornography. Although many of the videos were commercially produced adult pornography, most of the videos had been made or copied on a home computer.

Detectives observed Williams' computer and discovered an open folder on the desktop monitor which displayed several videos depicting child pornography. Pursuant to the consent, the detectives took custody of the computer, a digital camera and memory card, 41 VHS videotapes, 697 compact disks and DVDs, 62 floppy disks, and two zip disks.

On Oct. 26, 2009, acting at the direction of JSO detectives, the complainant placed a controlled telephone call to Williams. The telephone call was audio recorded. During this conversation, Williams admitted, among other things, downloading child pornography and apologized for his "sickness."

Williams admitted that he was hiding the child pornography from the complainant because he was "too ashamed and embarrassed," further indicating that he would download pornography using peer-to-peer networks.

JSO detectives obtained a search warrant for Williams' computer, digital camera, and the other media obtained from his residence. A preliminary examination revealed images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on several of the compact disks and DVDs.

Forensic analysis of Williams' computer and other electronic media was conducted ICE HSI. This analysis revealed approximately 113 videos of child pornography, 93 images of child pornography, and 36 image files from Windows artifacts on Williams' computer system and the compact disks.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

The investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.