Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Shawn Wesley Williams, 38, was arrested yesterday and charged with four counts of lewd or lascivious conduct with a victim under 16 years of age.

On June 4, the 14-year-old girl and a family member reported two incidents to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Detective, and on June 5, the detective coordinated with them to set up controlled text messages to Williams, calling him “Wes,” a name he commonly goes by. Williams, thinking he was texting with the juvenile, reportedly referred to a “friendship” between himself and the juvenile and said he hoped she could “come for a swim again soon or maybe we could do some more gaming!”

Williams reportedly suggested using Snapchat for future messages, so the detective sent him a message on Snapchat and reported that the conversation was initially about how Williams had fun playing video games with the juvenile victim. The detective asked if he, posing as the juvenile victim, could ask a question about the most recent incident, and Williams reportedly said he could, but first he wanted a picture of the juvenile victim saying “good morning or hey, Wes.” When the juvenile victim said she was still in bed, he said that was fine, but he still wanted a picture. When the detective, posing as the juvenile victim, asked why Williams had touched her buttocks, Williams reportedly wrote, “What?! We were sitting pretty close if something like that happened it must have been an accident, sorry about that.” He asked if they could play Roblox this weekend and asked for another picture; the detective said there were people around, so he would send one later, and Williams said he needed to get back to work.

In a forensic interview with the Child Protection Team on June 11, the juvenile victim reportedly said the incidents started when she was 12 or 13; she said that when she was younger, Williams would hug her, with his hands moving lower and lower; he also said she looked good in a bathing suit when they were at the pool.

The juvenile victim said that in January, she was at Williams’s house with other people when Williams sat next to her on the couch, moved closer to her, and slid his hand under her buttocks. She said she moved to pick up a kitten to get away from him, and he touched her genitals, over her clothes.

She said the most recent incident was in late May, and she was at another house watching TV by herself when Williams came into the room and asked if she wanted to play Roblox. She agreed to play the game, and she said Williams touched her leg and placed his phone on her leg. Later, the two of them played Minecraft, and at one point she got tired of the game and put her controller down on her left side while Williams sat on her right. She said she played with her phone for a while and then Williams reached under her legs to grab the controller and then reached under her legs again to put the controller back, which appeared to the detective to be “an unnatural way for [Williams] to grab the controller.” The juvenile recorded this and also reportedly recorded Williams touching her inappropriately twice. The detective reported that the videos were consistent with the victim’s story. The girl said that after Williams touched her, she left the room and contacted a family member, who picked her up.

Williams was arrested yesterday evening in UF Parking Garage 6, and post Miranda, Williams reportedly said he had a good relationship with the juvenile victim; he admitted that he said she looked good in a bathing suit and did not believe that was abnormal.

When asked if he knew why deputies were speaking with him, Williams reportedly said at first that he didn’t know but then suggested it might be related to the most recent time he played video games with the juvenile victim because “they were sitting close.” He denied touching the juvenile victim inappropriately.

The detective asked about Williams grabbing the controller, and Williams reportedly said he was “positive” he reached over her to grab it; when shown the video, he reportedly said he did not recall reaching under her legs and still believed he reached over her.

When the detective explained that law enforcement had additional video evidence that he had touched her inappropriately, Williams said he would like to speak to his lawyer.

Williams has been charged with four counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. He has no local criminal history, and Judge Lourdes Rodriguez ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.