Capitol Hill Staffer Avoids Jail Time After Pleading Guilty To Sexual Abuse

A former Capitol Hill staffer who worked for Democrats has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in a plea agreement that apparently won’t require him to spend any time in jail.

Donny Ray Williams, Jr., 37, reportedly pleaded guilty to four charges: third degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor charges of sexual abuse, and one misdemeanor count of threatening to do bodily harm in connection with two incidents that allegedly occurred in the summer of 2010.

Prosecutors claim that Williams allegedly invited a female congressional co-worker back to his apartment, spiked her drink with Ambien, and raped her while she was asleep. A month later, he allegedly got another woman drunk and “had sexual contact with her” without her consent, The Washington Post reported. A third woman made similar claims against Williams, while a fourth alleged that Williams had threatened her.

The case was scheduled to go to a jury trial on January 5, 2015. The court trial was originally scheduled for March, 2013.

As the Inquisitor previously detailed, Williams was originally indicted in August, 2012 on 10 charges related to sexual abuse allegations.

The remaining charges are subject to dismissal as part of the plea deal entered into last week.

At the time of the 2012 indictment, Williams deemed the allegations “absolutely and completely false,” and insisted that he was not guilty. “I’ve never done anything to hurt anybody. I tried to live my life to help people,” he added.

Instead of jail, prosecutors plan to ask for a suspended prison sentence with five years of supervised probation. Williams will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

The plea deal, including the dismissal of the other charges, requires the approval of a D.C. Superior Court judge. Williams is due back in court on March 6, 2015, for a sentencing hearing.

Donny Ray Williams, Jr. was the former staff director for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness. According to Roll Call, Williams was a staffer in Congress for 10 years and “also worked for several Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, and Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.”

In addition to working in Congress, Williams may have also been employed by the Obama administration for about a year and a half in the Department of Housing and Urban Development as deputy assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations.

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