CAMDEN, Del. - A Dover Air Force Base airman is facing federal charges after investigators say he sent sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl before driving to Pennsylvania, picking her up, and bringing her back to Delaware.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed Aug. 28 in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, 27-year-old Dylan Williams is charged with coercion and enticement, transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
The investigation began Aug. 20, according to prosecutors, after officers with the Falls Township Police Department in Pennsylvania responded to a report involving the missing 15-year-old. Investigators say the girl's mother found her cellphone and discovered that she had been communicating with an unknown man, later identified as Williams, who allegedly picked her up during the overnight hours.
Law enforcement reviewed the girl's phone and found a Snapchat conversation with an account investigators linked to Williams, according to the complaint. Authorities then submitted an emergency request to Snapchat and used phone records to locate Williams' cellphone at Dover Air Force Base.
The filing says investigators learned Williams was an active-duty airman working at the base.
According to prosecutors, recovered Snapchat messages showed Williams and the girl had sexually explicit conversations and discussed meeting in person.
The FBI also alleges Williams knew the girl was 15. According to the complaint, the girl told Williams her age after the two began communicating on Snapchat in June. Williams allegedly told investigators that he was 27 and acknowledged that he knew she was 15.
Messages cited in the filing show the two making plans on Aug. 19 for Williams to pick her up early the following morning. Investigators say Williams then drove from Delaware to Pennsylvania and picked her up near her home in Falls Township.
On Aug. 20, members of the Dover Police Department, FBI, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and U.S. Marshals Service contacted Williams at work, according to the complaint. Investigators say Williams told them the girl was at his home in Camden.
Authorities then went to the residence that afternoon and found the teenager in the basement, according to court documents. She was then taken to the Dover Police Department and later Kent General Hospital.
The girl told officials Williams had sexually assaulted her, according to court records. The filing describes multiple alleged sexual encounters in Pennsylvania and Delaware, some of which investigators say Williams recorded on his cellphone.
According to the FBI, Williams admitted driving to Pennsylvania on Aug. 20, picking up the 15-year-old and bringing her to his home in Camden. He also allegedly admitted initiating contact with her through Snapchat months earlier.
Williams is now scheduled to appear in federal court on Thursday, Sept. 3.
