Former Smyth County School Board member pleads guilty in child-porn case

A former Smyth County School Board member has pleaded guilty to using at least six minor male victims to produce child pornography.

Todd Stewart Williams, 54, of Chilhowie, pleaded guilty on Thursday to four counts of persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing and attempting to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce one or more minors to engage in any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, in interstate commerce.

Williams faces a mandatory minimum sentence of up to 15 years in prison and could get up to 30 years.

According to court documents, Williams’s criminal activity came to the attention of law enforcement in September 2022 when a 15-year-old teenager living in Oklahoma reported to the FBI that Williams, using the Snapchat username “todd_w3411” requested nude images and videos of him.

During an interview with law enforcement, the teen told investigators he met Williams in a Snapchat group intended for gay teenage males. Soon after they began chatting, Williams reached out to the teen and offered to make in-app purchases in an online video game in exchange for nude pictures of the teen.

The FBI investigation would uncover multiple instances of Williams’s exploitation of multiple minors. In one instance, Williams used Snapchat to communicate with a then-12-year-old minor and offered to purchase items for an online game before eventually offering to buy nude pictures and videos from the boy.

Between August 2022 and January 2024, Williams sent the young victim nearly $1,000 in exchange for nude images and videos.

In January 2023, Williams met another teen on Snapchat and paid the teen to take pictures and videos of him sexually abusing his younger stepbrother, who was 10 years old at the time.

As directed by Williams, the teen would approach his stepbrother in his bedroom at night and force his stepbrother to watch pornography and engage in sexual acts.

After the teen reached his $600 monthly limit on Cash App transactions, Williams mailed him a debit card hidden inside a pair of shoes to ensure he was able to purchase his videos.

In a six-month period, Williams paid over $3,500 for nude images and videos of the teen and his stepbrother.

In another interaction with a young teenage boy on Snapchat, Williams paid over $3,000 in exchange for nude images and videos of him and his teenage boyfriend.

In all, Williams spent more than $10,000 buying nude images from at least six underage male victims.

Williams was arrested at his home in August on the charges, and subsequently resigned his seat on the Smyth County School Board.

Williams had been elected to the board as an independent three times, for a one-year term in 2016, and then to full four-year terms in 2017 and 2021, all unopposed.