A local man pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor last week.
Christopher Williams, 28, had been scheduled for a three-day jury trial involving 17 witnesses when he pleaded guilty March 27, the day of his deadline to reach a plea, according to a press release from Prosecutor Ted Adams.
He pleaded guilty to a Level 4 felony. The agreement left Williams’ sentence up to the Brown Circuit Court Judge Mary Wertz.
Williams has requested a change of judge for his sentencing. A hearing on that request is scheduled for April 15. His sentencing date is May 1.
The plea agreement capped the executed portion of his sentence at eight years. A Level 4 felony carries a sentencing range of between two and 12 years.
Williams also pleaded guilty to driving while suspended, a Class A misdemeanor, and false informing, a Class B misdemeanor, in separate criminal matters.
“I am very happy that this guilty plea avoids the necessity of a juvenile victim having to testify about such a traumatic experience multiple times to 12 strangers,” Adams said.
“I am happy to report that she is doing very well and has expressed some impressive and exciting career goals. I hope she can now place this incident behind her as best as she can and strive to accomplish her future goals.”
Williams was arrested in 2017 after a 14-year-old girl told police that he took her to homes in Bloomington and Brown County, where they did drugs and had sex.
The girl’s mother told police that she had given permission for her daughter to leave their home with Williams the evening of the incident. They were to go to a gas station in Nashville and come straight back and to call her when they arrived in Nashville, a probable cause affidavit states.
She didn’t hear from her daughter. She went to the sheriff’s department at about 12:30 a.m. to report that she had been abducted.
The mother found the girl around 3 a.m., walking near a gas station in Nashville, the police report said.
The girl told police Williams took her to Bloomington and to multiple homes, where she was pressured to do what she thought was “molly,” or ecstasy. She reported hearing Williams say he wanted to see how high he could get her, the affidavit said.
The girl told police she felt “very jittery” and unable to think straight. She later tested positive for methamphetamine, the report said.
She told police that Williams had sex with her outside one of the homes near his Jeep and that he did not stop when she told him no.
A woman who was at one of the homes she visited gave her a ride back to Nashville, the report said.
During the course of his conversation with police, Williams’ story changed from losing the girl in the Bloomington mall, to taking her to different homes where his friends lived, the affidavit said.
Williams eventually admitted to picking up the girl and going to several homes. He initially denied doing drugs but later admitted to smoking methamphetamine at the last home they visited on Hicks Road, the report said.
He repeatedly denied that he and the girl had had sex or that he had forced her; he said he knew how old she was, the report said.
He told police he and the girl came up with the story about getting lost in the mall. He said he started “freaking out” about going back to prison when he received messages from the girl’s mother that night, asking him where she was, the report said.
