Man arrested in southern Kentucky sex sting

Herald-Leader Staff Report

A Tennessee man was arrested in southern Kentucky on Tuesday night as he tried to meet with what he thought was a 12-year-old girl.

Billy Williams, 48, of Knoxville was arrested in Williamsburg, charged with unlawful transaction with a minor, a Class C felony punishable by five to 10 years in prison, according to Attorney General Jack Conway's office.

He is being held at the Whitley County Detention Center.

Williams had been communicating online with a decoy from Perverted Justice. Instead of meeting a 12-year-old girl at a Williamsburg restaurant, he found investigators with the Attorney General's Department of Criminal Investigations and officers from the Williamsburg Police Department.

The Office of the Attorney General has arrested 29 men in three previous sexual-predator stings. Of those, 27 cases have resulted in guilty verdicts or pleas. Two defendants are awaiting trial.

For more information about cybersafety, go to www.ag.ky.gov.