A surprise turnabout in Sean Williams’s child pornography production case — a last-minute plea deal that Williams was consenting to — took a sharp twist on the brink of completion as Williams’ waffling finally became too much for US District Judge Ronnie Greer Tuesday.

It could rate as anticlimactic after accused child sex offender Sean Williams came within a hair’s breadth of accepting a 55-year plea offer Tuesday, but a jury was seated by early evening and opening arguments in his federal trial come Wednesday.

Williams, 53, faces three separate counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of manufacturing child pornography.