51-Year-Old Louisiana Man Sentenced to 27 Years for Role in the Distribution of Child pornography Using a Chat App

Shreveport, Louisiana. - A 51-year-old Louisiana man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in the distribution of child pornography using a chat app. 

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that James Ray Williams, 51, of Shreveport, Louisiana, has been sentenced by United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. to 27 years in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on child pornography charges. Williams was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,000.

Williams was charged with conspiracy to advertise the distribution of child pornography in a superseding indictment in November 2021. On August 30, 2022, he pleaded guilty to the charge. According to evidence presented in court, Williams was the master administrator of multiple private chat groups on the Kik Messenger app from May 2021 to July 7, 2021, and had his own username. These private chat groups were solely for the promotion and distribution of child pornography. Williams, as the master administrator, posted rules to the private chat groups. He also recruited members for the private chat groups, some of whom he appointed as sub-administrators in charge of enforcing the rules. One of the rules required private chat group members to post child pornography.

Williams, a.k.a. "travis m495", published an advertisement in the private chat group on or about May 9, 2021, offering to distribute child pornography. The advertisement consisted of a Mega link with a file path that contained child pornography videos and images.

Alexander Pennington, a convicted sex offender from Las Vegas whom Williams appointed as a sub-administrator of the private chat groups, was charged in this case as a co-defendant. Pennington previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy to promote the distribution of child pornography in this case.

The Department of Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Cassidy.