SPOKANE, Wash.-A former law enforcement officer will spend over 11 years in jail after being found guilty of attempting to entice a minor.
Koby Don Williams, 49, of Ellensburg, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer, was convicted on one count of Attempted Online Enticement in May and sentenced for the crime this week.
“Mr. Williams held a duty of trust within the Eastern Washington law enforcement community, and he breached that trust by seeking out what he thought was a child for sex,” said Vanessa Waldref, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, Williams must also serve 15 years of supervised release after his prison sentence of 135 months.
Williams responded to a decoy Craigslist ad that was part of an undercover law enforcement operation meant to identify people willing to meet with minors for sex in July of 2022.
Williams called and texted with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 13-year-old prostitute and discussed payments, sex acts, his employment as a cop and made arrangements to meet at a hotel, according to a Justice Department press release on his sentencing.
According to court documents Williams agreed to meet the alleged underage prostitute at a hotel in Othello and was arrested when he showed up with Viagra and over $4,000 in cash.
Williams’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge was recovered during a search of his car after his arrest.
“Sexual exploitation of children, human sex trafficking of children, and internet crimes against children often go unnoticed,” said Othello PD Detective Sergeant Brent McFarlane. “It is deeply concerning when a member of law enforcement is involved in committing these horrific acts.”
