Source: Office of United States Attorneys
BILLINGS — A Hardin man accused of offering to pay a minor girl for sexual contact and providing her alcohol admitted today to a prostitution-related crime, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
The defendant, William Serges Joseph, 76, pleaded guilty to use of a facility in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering. Joseph faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Under the terms of plea agreement, the parties agree that a sentence of not less than one year in prison is appropriate.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. The court set sentencing for April 18, 2025. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Joseph was detained pending further proceedings.
In court documents, the government alleged that during an interview in March 2023 in Hardin, a juvenile girl, identified as Jane Doe, discussed that she began showing her breasts to Joseph in September 2022. The two messaged each other on Facebook, and Joseph was aware of Doe’s age. Doe disclosed that she allowed Joseph to touch her sexually in exchange for alcohol, and that he asked her for pictures of her naked. In a later interview, Doe said Joseph continued to message her and offered her $50 for sexual contact. A review of Doe’s cellular phone identified a February 2023 message from Joseph with a picture of male genitalia.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted the investigation.
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 CEOS, 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 Justice.gov/PSC.
XXX