Former Palm Springs man added to FBI’s Most Wanted list

Walter Lee Williams, a former California professor wanted for the alleged sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad to engage in illicit sex acts with children, was added to the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list Monday.

Williams has lived in Palm Springs, California, and has traveled extensively in the Philippines and has reportedly lived in Indonesia, Polynesia and Thailand. Neighbor says Williams and his mother owned a house on the 1900 block of South Barona in Palm Springs.

Williams is a 64-year-old white male. He is 5’9″ tall, weighs approximately 180 pounds, and has grayish-brown hair and brown eyes. Williams has previously resided in Palm Springs, California, and he was affiliated with a religious organization known as the Buddhist Universal Association in Los Angeles. Williams has an extensive history of travel throughout the Southeast Asia region, specifically the Philippines. He has reportedly resided in Indonesia, Polynesia, and Thailand. Williams is also alleged to have owned property in Thailand. He may also travel to Mexico and Peru.

Williams was charged in an indictment unsealed on Friday, June 14, 2013, in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California. The indictment, which was filed on April 30, 2013, charges Williams with one count of producing child pornography, one count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

The indictment alleges Williams traveled from Los Angeles to the Philippines in January 2011 to engage in sex acts with two 14-year-old boys he met online in 2010. Prior to his travel, Williams allegedly engaged in sexual activity via Internet webcam sessions with these boys and expressed a desire to visit them in the Philippines to have sex. While in the Philippines, he allegedly engaged in sex acts with both boys and produced sexually explicit photos of one of the boys. Williams fled the Los Angeles area approximately one week after returning from the Philippines.

Another man was arrested in the Palm Springs area with connections to Williams. Neighbors also say he was a tenant at one point in Williams’ home.
“Richard Arlington was arrested in Palm Springs, California pursuit to a criminal complaint, charging him with possession of child pornography,” said FBI Assistant Director Ronald Hasko. “Information suggests that the two were aware of each other’s criminal activity and they shared information which facilitated the sexual exploitation of children.”

Williams is the 500th name to have appearedover the last 63 years on its regularly updated list.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of this subject, the newest addition to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. This is an ongoing 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 www.justice.gov/psc.