Ex-JSO Officer accused of child porn had been investigated for dozens of citizen complaints

In his nearly 17 years on the force, a former JSO Officer now facing federal child porn charges had a lot of complaints against him.

Since we learned Monday about the arrest of 59-year-old Michael Williams, WOKV has been working to obtain more information about his time with JSO. We've now learned there were dozens of complaints filed against him, including 23 which were sustained.

Williams was hired in October 1994, and it was less than two years after that- in January 1996- that he had formal counseling over a sustained complaint of improper action. Several complaints over the next few years were determined by Internal Affairs to either not warrant investigation, or Williams was cleared, including an October 1996 complaint for unbecoming conduct.

Starting in October 1995 and over roughly the next decade, Williams faced a string of investigations that ended with the complaints being sustained, including improper action, improper radio procedures, incompetency, failure to conform to work standards, lost property, and failure to take action. In all of these cases, he had formal counseling with a supervisor.

The first written reprimand against Williams came in April 2008, when complaints of failure to take action-performance on duty and unbecoming conduct- constraints of behavior were sustained. Another written reprimand followed in February 2009 for failure to take proper action- performance on duty.

Williams was then suspended for ten days in March 2009 after an IA investigation sustained five complaints. Those included unbecoming conduct- constraints of behavior, improper action- constraints of behavior, unbecoming conduct, failure to conform to work standards, and repeated infractions. Another ten day suspension came in February 2010 for unbecoming conduct- constraints of behavior, unbecoming conduct, failure to conform to work standards, and repeated infractions.

Finally, in October 2010, Williams “resigned under investigation”, according to the records. An investigation on commission of conduct supporting criminal acts, unbecoming conduct, and failure to obey an order found all the complaints to be sustained.

WOKV requested further details on the nature of the complaints against Williams, specifically the most recent one at the time he ultimately resigned. JSO says they are not required to keep those records more than five years, so that is not available.

WOKV learned Monday that Williams was arrested for seeking and receiving child pornography. Prosecutors claim Williams was in touch with a woman in Texas, who would produce child pornography involving her three-year-old daughter. The criminal complaint says the investigation in to Williams actually started with a Cyber Tip from Google’s Legal Compliance department, and multiple photos and videos were found on his technology and accounts. He allegedly paid the woman hundreds of dollars for the pornography, including some transactions after police searched his home.

Williams could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted, according to prosecutors. He is being held in custody pending a detention hearing in front of a Magistrate Judge Friday. The federal court docket shows Williams has been assigned a public defender.