PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A New York man has been sentenced to life in prison after sexually assaulting a New Jersey child in Atlantic County.
Zachary Williams, 37, was sentenced by a federal judge Tuesday in New York City to life in prison. Williams was convicted of crossing state lines for illicit sexual conduct with a minor, production and possession of child sex abuse materials, and coercion and enticement of a minor.
According to court documents, around September 2020, Williams met a 13-year-old New Jersey child on Snapchat and told her he was 17 years old when he was 33 years old.
Williams then asked for and received nude photos, and then “sextorted” the child–threatening to send the pictures to her friends and family.
He promised to let her delete the photos off his phone if she met him at a hotel in Atlantic County. He went to that hotel on October 2nd, 2020, and raped her two days later. Williams continued to extort her over the photos.
In March 2021, law enforcement officials set up a sting operation, posing as the victim in the same hotel, then arresting Williams. Williams’ phone was filled with child sex abuse materials, leading authorities to other victims in New York and Connecticut.
In addition to the life sentence, the Court sentenced Williams to 30 years for the interstate travel and manufacturing of child sex abuse materials and 20 years for the possession of such materials.
These sentences will be served concurrently with the life sentence for coercion and enticement.