William “Willy” Alexander Korthals booking photo courtesy of Carteret County Sheriff’s Office
William Korthals took the bait when an FBI agent conducting a sting in an online chat room asked if anyone would have sex with his 9-year-old and this week, more than a year after Korthal’s arrest, he finally pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges.
The guilty plea and criminal complaint documents were obtained Wednesday by Law&Crime and outline how the Beaufort, North Carolina, man walked right into the waiting arms of the FBI’s Project Safe Childhood probe.
Prosecutors said Korthals chatted with an undercover FBI agent for more than a year using the social media platform Kik, requesting obscene materials including “live photographs” of a purported 9-year-old child in explicit situations.
The FBI had been looking into child abuse communities on Kik that dub themselves “active parent” groups. Authorities say those groups are nefarious and serve as a place for parents or guardians who sexually abuse or exploit their children, to chat.
The group Korthals was found in was called “Loving Family,” court records show.
At times, the FBI investigator on the case said that Korthals thought he was talking to the minor daughter himself, and he would attempt to entice her sexually, using graphic language to explain how he would abuse her if they met.
“U dont care I’m young?” the undercover agent asked, posing as the child.
Korthals replied: “Yes. I’d hold you against the wall while I strip you naked also.”
The undercover agent said in the chats Korthal advocated using violence on the girl if she didn’t engage sexually with her father. At one point, court records show that Korthals planned to visit the child while his wife was out of town but he had to cancel at the last minute because of an “unexpected funeral.”
Contact slowed down and became “sporadic” but by June 2023, Korthals asked the undercover agent for a picture of the girl in her underwear. When the picture didn’t come, Korthals sent the FBI agent a picture of his erect penis.
A search warrant was executed on Korthals less than a week later and during an FBI interview, he confirmed he sent the texts and pictures. When asked about the picture of his genitals, he said it was a “lapse of judgment on his part.”
In her statement, FBI Special Agent Melissa Macaron said Korthals also admitted to sexually molesting a 6-year-old cousin when he was a teenager.
A plea form reviewed by Law&Crime shows Korthals pleaded guilty to a one-count information charge of attempted transfer of obscene matter to a minor.
He will be sentenced on June 24, according to a minute entry on his docket in the Western District of Virginia Harrisonburg Division.
An attorney for Korthals did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“One of the cornerstones of the Department of Justice’s mission is protecting the most vulnerable among us: our children.” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said Wednesday. “This case should serve as a warning to all predators lurking online seeking to exploit children: You are not invisible, and agents from the FBI and other federal agencies are actively hunting you in every corner of the internet in order to bring you to justice.”
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