37-year-old convicted after attempting to coax Lawrence girl into sexual acts online

A 37-year-old Indiana man who posed as a 15-year-old boy to coax a Lawrence girl into performing sexual acts online was convicted on federal child pornography charges Thursday.

A federal jury in Kansas City, Kan. convicted Brett J. Williamson. of Fort Wayne, Ind., on three counts of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and three counts of attempting to produce child pornography.

Williamson met the Lawrence girl on Tagged.com, a teen dating website, and coaxed her into performing sexual acts in Skype video chats. An indictment alleged that the 37-year-old also encouraged the girl to send him photographs of herself engaged in sexual activities in February and April of 2012.

Williamson faces at least 15 years and no more than 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of attempting to produce child pornography, as well as 10 years to life and a fine of $250,000 on each count of enticement. Williamson will be sentenced at a later date.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom commended the Lawrence Police Department for its work on the case.