District attorneys and family members packed a Santa Barbara courtroom Wednesday afternoon as Ronald “Chad” Williams was sentenced to three years in state prison for two counts of child molestation, for which he was convicted in December 2015. The crimes occurred at San Marcos Christian Camp in 2005, when Williams was director and his 11-year-old male victim was a camper.
Williams, 37, sat beside public defender K.C. Williamson through three statements from the victim — John Doe — and the victim’s parents. His father spoke of the “utter despair” Williams, once an honorary member of the family, inflicted 11 years ago when he sexually assaulted their son in a camp shower. “He came like a thief in the night and stole my son’s boyhood away from him.”
“From my heart to you, Chad, I forgive you as a man,” said Doe in an impromptu impact statement. A family friend read a letter written by Doe, which said, “That weekend Chad taught me everything I needed to know about shame, humiliation, hate, and pain.” The victim and his parents asked Judge Pauline Maxwell to impose the maximum sentence: 9 years in state prison.