Serial rape suspect arraigned on 51 charges Tuesday
FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA (WTXF) - Authorities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania have announced charges against a suspected serial child rapist, whose alleged crimes may date back as far as 40 years.
William Thomas, 58, of Morrisville, was arraigned Tuesday on 51 charges, including five counts of child rape, and was jailed on $750,000 bail. Authorities urged other victims to come forward, saying Thomas wrote about molesting children as young as 3 and as far back as the 1970s.
"This is a real-life boogey-man. This is your parent's worst nightmare," Weintraub said Monday.
Investigators began their investigation after the manager of a Trailer Park off Bristol Pike says a tenant discovered explicit details about someone sexually assaulting two young girls, ages 3 and 6, written on a piece of plywood in a recently renovated trailer.
The writing identified the victims and their parents by names, and the times when he first molested the girls, according to investigators.
Further investigation revealed that Thomas, who lives in the park, had recently been contracted to renovate the trailer where the writings were discovered.
After receiving this report, the Falls Township Police Department researched previous contacts with Thomas and discovered several incidents of note, dating back to 2000.
Further investigation led detectives to Thomas' prior home in the Pinewood section of Levittown. There, inside a shed, they found more handwritten details of alleged sexual abuse. Some of the writing could be seen, but not read, after it was covered in paint.
MORE: Serial rape suspect's crimes could date back 40 years, DA says
Witnesses who reported the original writings also claimed to have been inside Thomas' trailer where they saw photos of a girl who appeared to be naked, and under the age of 18. The witness also noted that Thomas' phone background featured a similar photo of a young girl who also appeared underage.
On February 2, 2017, officers issued a search warrant at Thomas' trailer, where they found more than 1,000 photos depicting naked children. More than 1,000 pairs of soiled children's underwear were also found inside of his trailer. Forensic teams spent four days processing the evidence inside the trailer.
"This was a perverse shrine to his criminal conquests. And we are merely scratching the surface of those conquests today," Weintraub said.
According to investigators, some of the writings that were uncovered documented Thomas "molesting" children as young as three years old, back when Thomas himself was in his twenties.
During their search of Thomas' trailer, officers also discovered paraphernalia associated with methamphetamine and marijuana.
Falls Township Police Lt. Henry Ward called the scene inside Thomas's trailer horrific.
"Try to come up with your worst scenario and times that by 10. And it'll get close to what we saw," he said.
"The maximum criminal exposure that Mr. Thomas faces, fortunately, is more than a lifetime's worth of jail time," Weintraub added.
According to the DA, Thomas' alleged victims ranged in age from 2 to 10-years-old. Of the known victims, the offenses date back to 1997.
District Attorney Matt Weintraub and investigators on the case are asking any other victims, or anyone with knowledge of additional crimes to come forward with information.
Thomas' preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 15.
If you have concerns about child abuse or questions, please call Network of Victim Assistance's 24-Hour Victim Support Hotline at 1-800-675-6900