Image Credit: Blount County Sheriff’s Office & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A federal trial date for alleged Johnson City serial rapist Sean Williams has been pushed from May 5th to September 2nd of this year.
The 53-year-old individual was previously scheduled to appear in a North Carolina court for child pornography and drug charges next month, but a federal judge in Western North Carolina has postponed the trials at the behest of federal defense lawyer, Emily Jones.
Jones has been able to get the trial reset two different times now on the basis that extra time is needed to further research and gauge whether or not she needs to file any pretrial motions.
Williams’ court date was originally set after a U.S. District Judge in East Tennessee sentenced him to 95 years in federal prison back in February based on three counts of child pornography production involving victims as young as 9 months old.
Local attorney with The Shipley Law Firm, Corey Shipley, told News Channel 11 that these delays are not really a surprise given the complexity of Williams’ case and all the different factors that must be considered, like whether Williams would serve his multiple sentences out concurrently or consecutively.
“The interplay of other sentences and potential sentences could cause a lot of delay,” said Shipley who also noted the “voluminous discovery” involved in the case.
Allegedly, Williams had thousands of pornographic images in his possession.
According to Shipley, this slows the legal process down especially in regard to child sex abuse materials because they cannot simply be transferred to defense attorneys for review like other materials could be.
“They have to set up times to go to the FBI office or wherever it’s being held to look at it, review the discovery and make sure you’re protecting the client’s constitutional rights,” Shipley explained.
In light of these delays, Tennessee First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney says that his office will move forward with cases against Williams in state court once federal prosecutions are over.
The state cases that Finney is referencing include three counts of child sexual abuse. These counts include the rape of an infant child which maintains a mandatory sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted.
Williams was indicted on these state charges in September of 2023 at the same time he was indicted on federal charges in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
According to Finney, the reason his office has not indicted Williams yet on any charges of rape against adult women is because the federal criminal cases are not yet complete.
When Williams was arrested in Cullowhee, North Carolina back in April of 2023, he was allegedly in possession of digital thumb drives that contained thousands of pornographic images, including images and videos he allegedly took himself.
Several dozen women shown in these videos have been identified by prosecutors and Finney’s lead investigator Mike Little.
According to Finney, many of the victims have already spoken to officials and “an unknown number” of Williams’ victims will likely want to see him face consequences for the alleged sexual assaults.
More articles on Sean Williams can be found HERE.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
