70-year-old Bogart Man Accused of Viewing, Printing Child Porn on Oconee Library Computer

For allegedly accessing images of child pornography on a computer at the , a 70-year-old Bogart man is behind bars.

Watkinsville Police with the assistance of Oconee County Sheriff's deputies executed a warrant without incident at a Fowler Mill Road home Monday morning.

The arrest warrant alleges that on Wednesday, August 1, a man "was on the Internet using the computer at the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville to view and print pictures of very young boys in sexually explicit conduct," Police Chief Lee O'Dillon wrote in a news release.

Library patrons saw the images on the computer screen and complained to
employees who notified police, he said.

O'Dillon noted in the release that when police asked the man about the computer screen's content, he stated, “I was just curious.” Officers later learned the man was printing photos, he added.

Budge Earl Williams was booked into the Oconee County Jail just before 3 p.m. and charged with criminal attempt to commit sexual exploitation of a child, a felony.  A conviction could carry a sentence of 5 to 20 years in confinement and a fine, O'Dillon said. 

O'Dillon said Williams is on federal probation for weapons violations.

Williams was formerly a columnist for the Athens Banner-Herald. According to a biography that appeared at the end of his columns, he worked as a businessman and is a Vietnam War veteran.

Patrons of Oconee County Library must sign up and agree to certain policies in order to use computers.

The Athens Regional Library system's Internet Acceptable Wireless Use Agreement Use Policy states: "Misuse of the computer will result in the loss of computer privileges, potential loss of library privileges and possible prosecution. Such misuse includes, but is not limited to, using the computer for illegal activities; hacking into the library computer system or any other computer system; damaging or attempting to damage computer equipment or software; interfering with systems operations, integrity or security; gaining unauthorized access to another person's files; sending harassing messages to other computer users; altering or attempting to alter the library computer's settings; and violating copyright laws and software licensing agreements."

According to that same policy, there are filters in place to prevent access to certain materials.

"Federal law under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires filters to be placed on all computers throughout the Athens Regional Library System," the policy notes. "The local library board of trustees in each county, using community standards as a guide, is responsible for determining the level of filtering on the library's Internet computers."

See Oconee Patch .

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