PHOENIX—Yesterday, Joseph Troy Williams, 38, of Coolidge, Ariz., a member of the Gila River Indian Community, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Tuchi to 168 months in prison to be followed by lifetime supervised release. Williams had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a minor. All victims were members of varied Indian Communities and the abuse occurred on the Gila River Reservation.

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, 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.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Gila River Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Raynette Logan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.