Former Employee at Ft. Meade Youth Center Charged with Sexually Abusing a Minor
U.S. Attorney Warns That ‘Parents Must be Relentless about Reading Children’s Text Messages and Checking Their Social Media Accounts’
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 12, 2013 |
BALTIMORE—Anthony Dennis Williams, II, age 27, of Severn, Maryland, a former employee at the Fort Meade Youth Center, was arrested today on charges of sexually abusing a minor.
The charges were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
“Parents must to be relentless about reading children’s text messages and checking their social media accounts,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Keep your children’s passwords, read all of their incoming and outgoing messages, and take immediate action if they send or receive inappropriate messages.”
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Williams worked at the Fort Meade Youth Center where he was a Child Youth and School-Aged Services (CYSS) employee. Williams also taught a program at CYS called Passport to Manhood (P2M), which was a life course for juvenile males attending CYS. The criminal complaint alleges that in 2010 and 2011, while working at CYS, Williams sexually abused two minor males. According to the complaint, Williams communicated with the males through social media sites and text messages. Williams engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the victims and exchanged sexually explicit photographs and videos with the minor males.
The investigation is continuing.
Williams faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor. An initial appearance is expected to be scheduled for tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Williams is detained.
A criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal complaint is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and Army CID for their work in the investigation and thanked the Citrus County, Florida Sheriff’s Office for their assistance. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney P. Michael Cunningham, who is prosecuting the case.