Carson City man convicted on child porn charges
Patrick Jason Williams was found guilty of promotion of sexual performance of a minor on Tuesday, Jan. 19, by Nevada District Court Judge James Todd Russell, and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after five years, the conviction notice stated.
The conviction earlier this month wrapped up a case that began early in 2014 when Williams, pursued by Carson City detectives for child pornography crimes committed in December 2013, fled Nevada in an attempt to evade local authorities.
He was found months later by police on the Big Island of Hawaii and arrested on an outstanding extradition warrant before being extradited back to Carson City, where he faced a preliminary hearing in Carson City Justice Court for an indictment of the charges.
Williams was charged with 19 counts of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of persons under 16 years of age. This included thousands of images and hundreds of videos, according to the criminal complaint initially filed by the Carson City District Attorney's office.
The case then went to district court for trial, and Williams entered a guilty plea on June 29, 2015.
Assistant District Attorney Kristin Luis and Deputy District Attorney Tyson League prosecuted the case in district court.
Luis said there was a lot of testing that had to be performed between Williams’ guilty plea and sentencing. This included multiple psychosexual evaluations meant to determine Williams’ risk for re-offending, Luis said.
“This was a significant case,” Luis said. “It demonstrates an obsession.”
More than 5,000 pornographic images of minors were found on Williams’ computer, Luis said. The time he spent gathering the images, as well as the sophisticated techniques used to try and cover his tracks from authorities prompted prosecutors to argue that Williams was at high risk of re-offending, she added.
Luis said Williams used anti-forensic software programs designed to hide his computer’s IP address and his activities. He would then de-install these programs in an effort to further hide his trail.
Luis stressed the impact Williams’ crime has had on others.
“We don’t believe this is a victimless crime,” she said. “The pictures that are looked at, the victims have actually been identified.”
Another victim in the case is Williams’ own child, who discovered the images on the computer, Luis said. This led to the involvement of authorities.
williams_conviction_notice.pdf by Carson Now
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