Aaron Williams, Jr.
Attempted enticement of a minor using the internet and receipt of child pornography
- Defendant
- Aaron Williams, Jr.
- Reddit role
- user
- Charge
- Attempted enticement of a minor using the internet and receipt of child pornography
- Jurisdiction
- U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota
- Date
- 2025-09-29
- Sentence
- 19 years and seven months in federal prison plus 10 years of supervised release
Summary
Aaron Williams, Jr., a 24-year-old man from Rapid City, South Dakota, was sentenced in federal court after he used a Reddit account to message a person he believed to be a minor during a law-enforcement sting. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force ran an undercover anti-child exploitation operation during the 2024 Sturgis Bike Rally. During that operation Williams used his Reddit account and cell phone to message a person he believed to be a minor, who was in fact the undercover persona of an investigator with the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. When Williams attempted to meet the persona to engage in sex acts, he was arrested. A federal grand jury indicted him in August 2024 on charges of attempted enticement of a minor using the internet and receipt of child pornography, and he pleaded guilty on July 21, 2025. On September 29, 2025, U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler sentenced him to 19 years and seven months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Williams was also ordered to pay $570 in restitution and $200 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, and to forfeit his cell phone. The U.S. Attorney's Office said analysis of the phone revealed hundreds of illegal images. According to the same release, Williams had been convicted in 2023 of child-pornography offenses committed during his service in the U.S. Air Force, was required to register as a sex offender as a result, and had completed a term of federal supervised release on August 1, 2024, just days before the Sturgis arrest. The case was investigated by the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security Investigations, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox. KELOLAND News, which reported the sentence on November 18, 2025, likewise described the Reddit account as the means by which Williams contacted the undercover investigator. Williams was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service immediately after sentencing.