Former Philly cop sentenced to more than 5 years in prison on child porn charges

A former Philadelphia police officer was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison Wednesday on child pornography charges for maintaining a collection of graphic, sexually explicit photos and videos of children, some as young as 3 years old.

William Watts Sr., 56, of Southwest Philadelphia, a 32-year veteran of the department, pleaded guilty in July and has been in custody since his arrest last year. In addition to his prison term, Watts will serve five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

Before U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky handed down his sentence, Watts tearfully apologized to the victims of the child pornography he collected and also sought forgiveness from his family and his former colleagues in law enforcement. As Watts was led away, he turned to wave to his family, who were gathered in the courtroom, and his son flashed him the peace sign.

“First, to all the victims of child pornography, molestation, abuse, and exploitation — of which I am one — I would like to apologize for my actions and reckless, uncharacteristic behavior,” Watts said. “Before I came here today, I looked up all the adjectives and synonyms for the word sorry. But none of them seemed strong enough to convey the level of remorse I feel.”

» READ MORE: Former Philly cop pleads guilty in child pornography case

Watts, who was most recently assigned to the First Police District, which includes parts of South and Southwest Philadelphia, was fired shortly after his arrest in October 2021.

Since 2017, prosecutors said, Watts had searched for sexually explicit photos and videos of children on the messaging app WhatsApp and emailed them to himself, gathering a collection of child pornography on multiple devices. He also communicated with at least one child predator, who sent him pornographic images of a child the man said was his 11-year-old child, according to court documents.

The FBI learned of Watts’ crimes when AOL sent a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about images of child pornography he emailed himself in November 2020. The email account used to send the images was traced to Watts through subscriber information with his name and IP addresses linked to his phone number and the home he shared with his wife.

Last fall, the FBI executed a search warrant at Watts’ home in Philadelphia, where they found him outside on his way to work. When confronted, he confessed, authorities said.

In court Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Harrell said of Watts: “On one side he represented a respectable law enforcement officer to his colleagues. Good family man to his wife, children, and friends. At the same time, he was deceiving all of them. He was engaged in this world of online child sexual exploitation.”

Watts’ attorney, David Mischak, urged the judge to reduce the potential sentence, saying that Watts had been awarded certificates demonstrating service above and beyond the call of duty as a police officer and that he was dedicated to rehabilitation.

While there was no indication that the Police Department knew of his criminal conduct, Watts had faced sexual harassment complaints during his tenure as a police officer. The most recent allegation was in 2002, when a woman told investigators Watts caught her having sex with a man in a car, demanded that she perform oral sex, and fondled her breasts.

Federal prosecutors said an Internal Affairs investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations because the alleged victim refused to cooperate after filing the initial complaint.

A year earlier, Watts was accused of hitting on a woman as she left the grocery store while he was in uniform. The woman said Watts threatened to give her a traffic citation if she didn’t send him nude photos of herself. Police Department investigators said they were able to corroborate this incident.