March 18, 2015

Collin County Woman Sentenced for Child Pornography Violations

PLANO, TX—A 31-year-old McKinney, Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Judith Williams pleaded guilty on Apr. 22, 2014, to conspiracy to produce child pornography and production of child pornography and was sentenced to 405 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to information presented in court, in December 2012, Williams videotaped herself performing oral sex on an infant she was babysitting. Williams then e-mailed the videos to her boyfriend, Charles Smolens. Afterwards, Smolens provided Williams with a thumb drive that contained hundreds of images of child pornography, some of which he produced himself. Williams and Smolens were indicted by a federal grand jury on Mar. 13, 2013. Smolens was sentenced to 365 months in federal prison on Jan. 9, 2015.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the McKinney Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracey M. Batson and Mandy Griffith.