Two Delaware Men Indicted For Sex Trafficking Of A Child By Force, Fraud, And Coercion

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Steven M. Williams a/k/a “Brother Ray,” a/k/a “Ray”, age 38, and Harry E. Rivers a/k/a “Hakeem,” a/k/a “Pots,” age 28, both of Delaware, for sex trafficking of a child and by force, fraud, and coercion.  The indictment was returned on February 21, 2018.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Matthew Donnelly of the Elkton Police Department.

According to the indictment, Williams and Rivers were pimps, engaged in the business of recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, and maintaining by any means girls and women to engage in commercial sex acts. In July 2017, a female child, “Girl 1,” was a victim of these crimes. “Girl 1” was a resident of Delaware, had recently completed the eighth grade, and was 15 years old.

Williams and Rivers both face a maximum sentence of life in prison. An initial appearance has not yet been scheduled.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.       

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, the Elkton Police Department, the Newark (Delaware) Police Department, the Wilmington Police Department, the Cecil County Department of Social Services, the Cecil County State's Attorney's Office, and the Delaware Department of Justice for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia McLane and Zachary A. Myers, who are prosecuting the case.