SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Kimberling City, Missouri, man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced in federal court Nov. 22 on charges related to child sexual exploitation and illegally possessing firearms following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City investigation.
Joshua Brent Williams, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Williams to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.
On April 8, 2024, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography and one count of being a felon in possession of firearms.
"The 30-year sentence handed down to this felon is a testament to the severity of his despicable actions. The discovery of firearms during a search warrant for child pornography reveals the dangerous and vile nature of his crimes. What this individual did to children is beyond reprehensible, and we will pursue justice with relentless determination,” said HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark M. Zito. “Our commitment to protecting those who cannot defend themselves is unwavering, and we will tirelessly seek out those who exploit and harm children to ensure they face the full force of the law.”
The federal investigation began when a HSI task force officer received a Cyber Tipline Report that Williams had uploaded child pornography to his cloud-based storage account. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Williams’s residence on July 31, 2023, and seized his cell phone, which contained videos of child pornography. Williams admitted that he had screen recorded the videos from a live stream that he saw on Instagram. He also participated in the chat sessions that accompanied the livestream.
According to court documents, forensic examinations of Williams’s electronic devices uncovered 48 files of child pornography, which included images of children being raped by adults. Investigators also found that Williams was following eight Instagram accounts whose users had broadcasted live sessions of child pornography. Williams was trading child pornography for links that would allow him to access online collections of child pornography.
Officers also found three firearms at Williams’s residence – a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber rifle, a Hi-Point 9mm rifle, and a Ruger .22-caliber pistol – and a large amount of ammunition. According to court documents, Williams also was in possession of methamphetamine.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Williams has two prior felony convictions for sexual assault for raping his minor girlfriend, and a prior felony conviction for domestic assault for choking a woman until she passed out and repeatedly striking her in the face. Williams was on probation for his domestic assault conviction at the time he committed the federal crimes in this case.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Greene County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department, the Springfield, Missouri Police Department, and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
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 U.S. attorney’s 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.
Together with partners in law enforcement, state and local government, international counterparts, and nongovernmental organizations, the HSI workforce does heroic work to prevent these crimes, support those who are impacted by them, and hold perpetrators accountable.
HSI offers multiple options for virtual and in-person trainings to educate the public about the growing threats children and teens face online.
Learn more about HSI Kansas City’s mission to eradicate child exploitation on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIKansasCity.