R. Seth Williams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Seth Williams
Williams in 2016
24th District Attorney of Philadelphia
In office January 4, 2010 – July 24, 2017
Preceded by	Lynne Abraham
Succeeded by	Kelley B. Hodge (Interim)
Personal details
Born	(1967-01-02) January 2, 1967 (age 57)
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Georgetown University Law Center Pennsylvania State University
Website	Office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia
Criminal status	Released in April 2020

Rufus Seth Williams (born January 2, 1967) is a former district attorney of the city of Philadelphia. He began his term January 4, 2010. He formerly served as an assistant district attorney. Williams was the first African-American district attorney in Philadelphia and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On March 21, 2017, Williams was indicted on 23 counts of bribery, extortion, and fraud. His trial began June 19, 2017. He resigned and pleaded guilty to one charge on June 29, 2017.

Early life and education

Williams was put up for adoption after his birth. After placement in two foster homes, he was adopted and grew up in West Philadelphia. He was the only child of Rufus O. Williams, a teacher at Sulzberger Middle School, and his wife, Imelda, a secretary at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

He graduated from Central High School in 1985, and attended Penn State, where he served as President of the Penn State Student Black Caucus, the Undergraduate Student Government. As a student activist, he led a 102-mile march to the state capital at Harrisburg to get Penn State to divest from South Africa.

He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992.

Early career

After graduating from Georgetown, Williams joined the Philadelphia district attorney's office. He served 10 years as an assistant district attorney. In that time, he was appointed assistant chief of the Municipal Court, where he supervised the 30 newest prosecutors. He also created and led the Repeat Offenders Unit, with the goal of reducing the high percentage of crimes committed by repeat offenders. His courtroom experience includes 37 jury trials, more than 1,500 bench trials, and more than 2,500 felony preliminary hearings.

In 2005, he challenged Lynne Abraham, Philadelphia's longtime incumbent district attorney, in the Democratic primary, but lost with 46% of the vote. Following the election, he was appointed by the mayor as Inspector General of the City of Philadelphia, where he was responsible for investigating allegations of corruption, fraud, waste, abuse and employee misconduct among municipal workers and companies doing business with the city. He left in 2008 to take a position as counsel at Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, a Center City law firm.

District Attorney

Election

On November 3, 2009, Williams was elected District Attorney of Philadelphia. Winning more than 75% of the vote, he became the first African-American district attorney of Philadelphia and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was sworn on January 4, 2010, succeeding Abraham. During his period in office, Williams served as an adjunct professor at Temple and Villanova universities, as well as an advisory board member at Penn State Abington. He is a major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army.

Kermit Gosnell

..... He was sentenced to life in prison.

Catholic Church

..... During proceedings, the youth's account of the alleged abuse changed, and doubts were raised about the veracity of the charges brought by Williams. According to a Newsweek article by Ralph Cipriano, Williams "has not explained any of the factual discrepancies in Billy's many stories, and why the D.A. would proceed with what Williams described as a 'historic' prosecution of the church with a star witness so lacking in credibility."

The accused priest, Msgr William Lynn, was convicted, but has been in the appeals process (including another trial) ever since; the latest iteration was delayed from March 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has maintained his innocence.

Williams also brought charges against another priest, Fr Robert L. Brennan, a priest who had been defrocked in 2005. ..... Brennan was indicted again, this time on federal charges, in 2019.

Porngate

..... The publicity resulted in the resignation of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery. It also resulted in the suspension of Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin. .....

These three were later hired by Williams for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. When this was reported, the content of their emails was subsequently released, prompting outrage. All five women on the City Council called for Williams to fire the three prosecutors. After considerable pressure, Williams reassigned the prosecutors, but did not fire them. Fina was permitted by Williams to voluntarily resign in 2016 in order to fulfill a pre-determined plan to start his own private law practice. Costanzo and Blessington continued to work in the DA's office.

Impropriety

On February 10, 2017, Williams announced he would not seek re-election of a third term in office due to political scandals. He was charged with failing to disclose $160,500 worth of gifts between 2010 and 2015, and was the subject of an FBI/IRS investigation into his finances. On March 21, he was indicted.

Honors

In October 2011, Williams received an Alumni Fellow Award from Pennsylvania State University.

Personal life

Williams married a woman named Sonita, and they had three daughters together. After he and his wife separated in 2011, their daughters lived with her.

Williams is Catholic. He was a parishioner of St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church.