Life In Prison For Man Who 'Sextorted' Girl, 13, At Galloway Hotel

GALLOWAY, NJ — A New York City man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he lied about his age, coerced a 13-year-old girl into sending him nude photographs, "sextorted" her by threatening to send the photos to her friends and family and then traveled to a Galloway hotel to have sex with her, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Zachary Williams, 37, was previously convicted of two counts of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, production of and possession of child pornography, and coercion and enticement of a minor, U.S. Attorney John Giordano announced.

Williams initially met the 13-year-old girl via Snapchat in Sept. 2020, where he told the girl he was 17 while he was actually 33-years-old, officials said.

He asked the girl for nude photographs and once he received them, began to "sextort" her by threatening to send said photos to her friends and family, authorities said.

Williams ultimately convinced the girl to meet him at a Galloway hotel, and he agreed to let her delete the photos from his phone, officials said. He traveled from New York to the hotel on Oct. 2, 2020, where he had unprotected sex with her and then forced her to take a "Plan B" contraceptive pill in her front of him, according to court documents.

Afterwards, Williams continued to threaten exposing the photos of the girl, despite his earlier promises, authorities said.

When the girl would block him on social media, Williams opened new accounts to harass her, including "IWILLHURTYOU Iwilll_h2021," "IWILLGETTHESWITCHBACK," and "Makeadealormomfindsout."

He was arrested in a March 2021 sting operation where authorities lured Williams to that same Galloway hotel by posing as the girl, authorities said. His phone had numerous child pornography photos which have led to the identification of additional child victims in both the Eastern District of New York and the District of Connecticut, where additional charges remain pending against Williams, authorities said.

In addition to the life imprisonment on the coercion and enticement charge, Williams was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment on each of the two counts of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and the count of manufacturing child pornography, and 20 years’ on the possession of child pornography count, all to run concurrent to the life sentence.

“Zachary Williams is a callous sexual predator whose crimes against children were especially cruel,” said Giordano. “First and foremost, the Court’s imposed sentence will forever protect our children from further abuse by Williams. My office, and our law enforcement partners, are steadfast in our commitment to protecting our nation’s young people.”

"A 13-year-old by any normal definition is a child. Children can't fend for themselves, needing adults to provide food, shelter and security. Williams, and other sexual deviants, prey on helpless children for reasons most of us can't fathom. However, it is easy to see why monsters view an innocent and defenseless child as an easy and appealing target,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly. “At FBI Newark, alongside our law enforcement partners, we are relentless in our mission to track down and remove these dangerous predators from our communities—because every child deserves to grow up safe and free from harm."