Federal Charges Filed Against Airman Found With Missing Falls Twp. Teen

After being charged by Bucks County authorities, a member of the U.S. Air Force is also being charged by federal prosecutors after a 15-year-old Levittown girl was found at his residence.

Dylan Williams, 27, of Dover, Delaware, and Thornton, Colorado, made his initial appearance Thursday in a Wilmington courtroom on charges of coercion and enticement, transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and travel with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to U.S. Attorney for Delaware Benjamin L. Wallace. Federal prosecutors moved to detain Williams, citing concerns that he might flee and pointing to the involvement of a minor.

The federal filing comes after charges brought by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and Falls Township Police Department.

Williams, an active-duty airman stationed at Dover Air Force Base, exchanged sexually charged text messages with the teenager on Snapchat from June through August, according to federal court documents.

Investigators reported Williams learned the girl’s age during these exchanges and referred to her as “kiddo” while calling himself “daddy.” He allegedly wrote that he wanted to “take ownership” of her.

Williams arranged to drive several hours to pick up the minor from her home in Falls Township’s Levittown section, authorities said.

“This is all already risky,” Williams wrote in one message to the girl, according to court documents reviewed by LevittownNow.com.

In another, he reportedly stated, “I’ll come tonight, don’t set me up. I’m f**king freaked out this is just one big trap and I’m going to get f**ked in the end.”

Falls Township police were called around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 20 to take a report of a missing girl, who had left her parents’ residence in the middle of the night, authorities said.

After the girl’s mother discovered a message from an unknown man regarding a pickup, officers searched the cell phone left behind at the home, investigators said.

Snapchat gave law enforcement the phone number connected to the account.

Investigators pinged the device to Dover Air Force Base, which led to the joint investigation involving Falls Township police, the FBI’s Philadelphia and Baltimore field offices, Dover (Delaware) police, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Federal law enforcement officials located the teenager in Camden, Delaware, near the air base, in the basement of a home where Williams lived, authorities said.

The girl reported having sexual contact with Williams on Aug. 20 and during a previous incident in the Levittown area, which she stated Williams recorded, authorities said.

In an interview with investigators at the Dover Police Department, Williams reportedly admitted to communicating with the 15-year-old on Snapchat and acknowledging her age. He told investigators he realized getting caught would ruin his life and stated that he was too much of a coward to take his own life.

In his interview, Williams reportedly said the girl appeared as if she did not want to be there after he picked her up.

Williams had been held since his August 20 arrest at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Delaware.

In Bucks County, Williams faces charges of unlawful contact with a minor — sexual offenses, unlawful contact with a minor — corruption of minor, corruption of a minor, and unlawful contact with a minor. He is awaiting preliminary arraignment on those charges.

The federal prosecution was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide U.S. Department of Justice program to fight child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.