Ga. man convicted for raping girl in Japan

VALDOSTA, Ga., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A Georgia man convicted of raping a girl over a four-year period in Japan faces a sentence of up to life in federal prison, court records show.

Dwain D. Williams, 36, of Pelham was found guilty Thursday by a federal jury in Valdosta of aggravated sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact with a child, engaging in illicit sexual conduct while traveling in a foreign country, and committing a criminal offense while accompanying a member of the armed forces outside of the United States, the Jacksonville, Fla. Times-Union reported.

The girl, now 15, said Williams began raping her in July 2004, when she was 9, and continued until she was 13, while she lived in Okinawa, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said.

During that period, Williams was in Okinawa with his wife, who was a member of the U.S. Air Force, court records showed.

Williams faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years, the Times-Union reported.

A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled, the Times-Union said.

The FBI and the Office of Special Investigations for Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta investigated the case, and Williams was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide program launched by the Justice Department in 2006 that combats child sexual exploitation and abuse, the newspaper reported.