Image Credit: Johnson City Police Dept / Facebook & @TBInvestigation / X
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
An additional payout of $2.64 million will be considered by the Johnson City Commission on Thursday in their effort to settle a lawsuit against the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) who are accused of mishandling the investigation of sexual assault allegations against Sean Williams.
Earlier this year, commissioners approved a $28 million settlement proposal in the “Jane Doe” lawsuit. The majority of the money is to come from the city’s reserve funds with $1 million coming from the city’s municipal liability insurer.
As part of the settlement, all claims and allegations of bribery, corruption, and sex trafficking against JCPD and the city will be dismissed.
The additional $2.64 million settlement proposal comes as additional claimants, victims of Williams, have come forward since July, including a minor.
Johnson City Mayor Greg Cox told News Channel 11 that the additional money is to help victims as they seek resolution and move forward and that the settlement will protect Johnson City’s taxpayers who would be on the hook for the financial costs that come from litigation.
Commissioner Joe Wise says that he hopes the way sexual assault cases are handled will be improved, and noted that JCPD has taken steps in that direction in the creation of a special victims unit and additional training for officers who will interact with sexual assault victims in the future.
Williams was accused of drugging and subsequently raping more than 50 women, and sexually assaulting at least 2 children.
In February of this year he was sentenced to 95 years in prison after being convicted on 3 counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of manufacturing child pornography.
After two years on the run, Williams was arrested in North Carolina in April 2023 and faces additional federal drug and child pornography possession charges in that state.
A business owner who operated a concrete and glass finishing and restoration business, Williams came to the attention of former special prosecutor Kateri Dahl after a woman survived a fall from Williams’ condo. The woman told investigators that she had been drugged and then pushed from five stories up. While in the condo, she found a handwritten list on Williams’ nightstand with the names of 23 women under the word “raped.”
When Dahl pursued allegations against Williams, she was fired by then Johnson City Police Chief Karl Turner.
Williams avoided being charged in connection with the woman’s fall.
Dahl made contact with ten women who claimed to be victims of Williams, each describing the same pattern of events, going to his downtown condo and then waking up to find they had been sexually assaulted after having been drugged.
Alleging that she was stymied in her pursuit of the case, Dahl was nevertheless able to bring illegal ammunition charges against Williams after his condo was searched. Before he could be taken into custody, Williams fled. Dahl claimed that actions of the JCPD alerted Williams to the impending charges, allowing him to run.
When he was found two years later by Western Carolina University campus police during a routine patrol, Williams was asleep in his vehicle. Upon investigation, he was found to have in his possession 12 ounces of cocaine, 14 ounces of methamphetamine, about $100,000 in cash, and several electronic devices and digital storage devices.
On these devices were thousands of downloaded images of child pornography along with images of 52 separate women who were obviously unconscious being violated by Williams. Investigators also found images of Williams sexually assaulting two children, one of whom was under two-years of age.
More reports on Sean Williams HERE.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
