Mark Williams, a 59-year-old former teacher from Virginia, was sentenced on April 17 in D.C. Superior Court to 16 years in prison for sexually abusing one of his minor students in 2014, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The case highlights the ongoing efforts by law enforcement and prosecutors to address sexual abuse committed by those in positions of trust within educational settings. Williams must also serve ten years of supervised release following his prison term and is required to register as a sex offender for ten years.
Williams was found guilty on February 12 of four counts each of first-degree sexual abuse of a secondary education student and first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. According to government evidence presented at trial, Williams began an independent study with the victim—then a 17-year-old student at Duke Ellington School for the Arts—in spring 2014. The meetings took place in a locked, windowless room in the school's basement where Williams initiated what became a romantic and sexual relationship with the student during school hours.
U.S. Attorney Pirro said, “Mark Williams groomed and sexually abused an underage student. It took years for the victim to gain the courage to come forward and disclose the abuse she suffered. Williams even left the country, but justice ultimately caught up with him.” Pirro added that her office will continue prosecuting those who exploit vulnerable individuals: “This sentence is well deserved.”
Williams was arrested on November 21, 2023, after failing to appear for trial earlier that year on February 2. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
Interim Chief Jeffery W. Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department joined Pirro in announcing the sentence and commended both police investigators and members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office who worked on this case—including Paralegal Specialist Tiffany Jones; Investigative Analyst Lucas Jetson; Victim Witness Coordinators Guisela Castillo and Katina Adams; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Hyde and Sarah Roessler; as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Platt.
