Sean Williams was indicted on more than 2 dozens counts of child sex crimes in September.
A 85-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Tennessee claims that police officers in Johnson City protected a wealthy man from charges of sex trafficking women and children in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sean Williams, 52, was ultimately arrested in April on unrelated drug charges and indicted in September on multiple state and federal child sex offenses, Law&Crime reported. He was a “respected” business man and sports car afficionado.
The lawsuit, filed by nine Jane Does in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleges that “at least eight” reports of Williams drugging and raping women were swept away by police officers.
The lawsuit names the city of Johnson City, former Police Chief Karl Turner, five other named officers, and 13 officers listed as John Does as defendants.
Does v Johnson City by kc wildmoon on Scribd
“For years, Sean Williams drugged and raped women and sexually exploited children in Johnson City, Tennessee, and for years, officers of the Johnson City Police Department (‘JCPD’) let him get away with it,” the complaint says.
”In exchange for turning a blind eye, JCPD officers took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from Williams, all while refusing to take meaningful steps to protect women and children in Johnson City and to stop his known sexually predatory behavior,” the filing says. “JCPD was not only turning a blind eye to Williams’ crimes, but also engaging in a pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct towards women who reported rape and sexual assault by Williams.”
The lawsuit further claims that the conspiracy to protect Williams went to the “highest levels” of the police department in upper East Tennessee mountain town.
According to the suit, police were paid by Williams “though the corrupt use of search warrants and other unlawful collection efforts, including an extortion scheme.”
“Said warrants were facially obtained and used to seize unlawfully obtained currency or narcotics assets but were in fact quid pro quo payments,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges that Williams, indicted on a minor federal charge in April 2021, stayed on the run from authorities for two years with the help of police officers who met with him at least twice and failed to take him into custody and tipped him off on other instances so he could evade capture.
Williams’ arrest finally came in April 2023 when a Western North Carolina University police officer found him passed out in his car in a park owned by the Cullowhee school. The officer found large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine in the car. Williams eventually made his way back to Tennessee.
The child sex charges came about after the North Carolina agency obtain search warrants for the fugitive’s digital devices and reportedly found evidence of him raping dozens of women in his Johnson City apartment. Tennessee authorities later found evidence of Williams raping children, leading to more than two dozen counts of child sex charges, including child pornography.
The lawsuit, however, says that evidence had been in the Johnson City Police Department’s possession for two years.
“[I]n September 2020, JCPD had seized digital devices from Williams’ apartment which contained images and videos of Williams sexually assaulting women, as well as child sexual abuse material,” the filing says. “On information and belief, JCPD had either intentionally or negligently failed to search these devices — or worse — had corruptly concealed this egregious evidence against Williams.”
The civil lawsuit was initially filed in June and later amended. The state and federal indictment came in September.
Williams escaped federal custody while traveling through Kentucky in October and was on the run for a month before he was recaptured in Florida. According to WJHL, Williams was being held in Kentucky and was traveling back to Tennessee for a hearing over his attorney’s request to be removed from the case.
And last week, he tried to commit suicide in the Blount County Jail in Maryville, Tennessee, according to the US Marshals Service.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Sean Williams/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation]
