ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Monday admitted recording his sexual abuse of a five-year-old.

Marshall Williams, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography. Williams admitted sexually abusing the victim and recording it with his cell phone in March of 2024. After the victim’s aunt found the videos, she alerted the victim’s mother and they confronted Williams, who fled. They then contacted the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19, 2026. His crime carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years, with a maximum term of 30 years.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.