A former senior Capitol Hill aide says he is innocent of charges put forward by prosecutors that accuse him of sexually assaulting four women after putting sedatives in their drinks.
36-year-old Donny Ray Williams, Jr., of Northeast, pleaded not guilty in D.C. Superior Court Friday to 10 counts of first and second-degree sexual abuse and one count of threatening to injure or kidnap a person. He had been indicted Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported, citing Williams' LinkedIn profile, that the incidents in question occurred between July and December 2010, when Williams was working as the staff director of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. The paper also reported that Williams had worked on the Hill between 1999 and 2011, exiting government service in July of the latter year.
Prosecutors allege that Williams assaulted the women after knocking them unconscious by putting prescription medication in drinks that he served them. In at least one case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Marcus-Kern alleged, the sleep aid Ambien was used. Court papers say that Williams told detectives that he was taking prescription medication for back pain, Ambien for a sleeping disorder, and Adderall for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
At Friday's hearing, Marcus-Kern also said that Williams had admitted to having sex with one of his alleged victims. Williams' trial is scheduled to begin March 19.
