CRIME BLOTTER

Oregon high school principal arrested for possession of child sexual assault material

Sep 17, 2025, 5:16 PM | Updated: 5:17 pm

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Cop lights activated atop a police vehicle. (MyNorthwest file photo)

(MyNorthwest file photo)

An Oregon principal, from Longview, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly possessing child sexual assault material, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) announced.

Jeremy Peter Williams, the 49-year-old principal of Rainier Junior/Senior High School in Oregon, is charged with dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Cowlitz County detectives’ investigation into Oregon principal

On August 28, 2025, Cowlitz County detectives received multiple notices from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which reported incidents related to the trafficking of Child Sexual Assault Material (CSAM) in the county.

The information provided to Cowlitz County derived from social media, which reported multiple images with hash matches to known CSAM being sent and received by accounts linked to Williams.

“Hash matching is a digital process where a unique ‘hash’ is generated for a digital file using a hash function. This hash is then compared against a database of known hashes,” CCSO stated.

The hash matching process confirmed that the files were identical to the content previously identified as CSAM.

CCSO detectives served search warrants and subpoenas to confirm the association of the accounts with Williams. On Tuesday, detectives arrested Williams and served a search warrant on his residence. Williams’ phone, computers, and digital storage devices were seized for further examination.

Williams was later booked into the Cowlitz County Jail.

CCSO noted there is no evidence indicating any school district students were involved.

The Rainier School District confirmed that Williams was on paid administrative leave during the time of his arrest for an unrelated issue.

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