New York man sentenced to life for sexually assaulting minor he met on Snapchat

Zachary Williams was found guilty of sexual assault of a minor. He had travelled to New Jersey to meet the girl after lying about his age.

Williams was also charged with producing and possessing child pornography. He received a 30-year sentence for interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and manufacturing child pornography. Williams was also given a 20-year sentence for possession of child pornography. Both sentences will run concurrently with his life sentence.

US attorney John Giordano said that the sentence serves to protect children from individuals like Williams. In a press release, the Giordano described Zachary Williams as a "callous sexual predator" whose crimes were especially cruel.”

Man met victim on Snapchat

According to court documents, Williams met with the minor on the popular social media app Snapchat in September 2020. He lied about his age, claiming to be 17 years old, despite being 33 at the time. Williams asked for illicit pictures from the girl and later used these images to threaten her.

Zachary Williams met the girl in a hotel in Atlantic County, New Jersey, where she deleted the images from his phone. Two days later he sexually assaulted the girl and then continued to threaten her with her pictures.

He was arrested in March 2021 after a sting operation conducted by law enforcement. Williams tried to lure the officer posing as a minor to the same hotel. His phone was found to have multiple images of child pornography, revealing several other victims.