A former Columbia Police Department officer avoided jail time after pleading guilty Tuesday to a charge that he had sex with a woman who was under post-release supervision in 2014.
Shawn Williams, who had been scheduled to go to trial Wednesday, is the last of four officers to be sentenced in the case.
Circuit Judge Prentiss Harrell gave the former lieutenant a five-year suspended sentence along with fines and court costs. It is a non-expugnable felony but will not require Williams to register as a sex offender.
Assistant District Attorney Laurel Brinkley said they had not been sure if Williams was going to plea to the charge before he did so at about noon Tuesday.
“Law enforcement has no business doing what they did,” District Attorney Hal Kittrell said.
Williams was arrested in 2014 along with Detective Richard Pack and officers Jose Oatis and Justin Herrington.
Pack, Herrington and Oatis resigned, and Williams was terminated by the city on Aug. 5, 2014.
All four had been charged under Mississippi Statute 97-3-104, the crime of sexual activity between certain individuals and offenders incarcerated in correctional facilities or under correctional supervision. Williams was charged with acts that occurred in May 2014.
A jury convicted Herrington in August 2016, and he was sentenced to five years with two years to serve in prison.
Oatis pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January 2016 to five years but avoided jail time because the six months to serve were suspended.
Pack pleaded guilty in October 2015 and was sentenced to five years with six months to serve.
Police Chief Mike Cooper said Tuesday officers should be held to a higher standard and are not above the law.
“We brought it to light. We brought it to the DA and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations and asked that they investigate with all of their resources,” Cooper said.
Williams will not be incarcerated because of the suspended sentence.
“Judge Harrell also issued a special finding on the record specific to the statute he pleaded to distinguishing that the woman was not incarcerated at the time. This means he will not have to register as a sex offender,” Kittrell said.
Williams was also sentenced to non-reporting probation and must pay fines and costs. The court order identifying the fines and costs was not available as of deadline because the order had not been filed yet.
“(Williams) was supposed to go to trial Wednesday,” Kittrell said. “We got from it what we could, and that was a plea. It was up to the judge on the rest. Laurel Brinkley and Kim Harlin did a great job preparing the case, and we were ready to go to trial. He made the decision to plea today and entered it around noon.”
