Editor's note: This story contains graphic details.
Two women who investigators say were among the many victims abused by an alleged child rapist in Bucks County spoke out on Tuesday.
"I am a victim of William Thomas," one of the women said during a noon press conference at the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA) in Jamison, Pennsylvania.
The two sisters, who are now in their 20s, said they were sexually abused by William Thomas, 58, of Morrisville, when they were children growing up in the Levittown area of Bucks County. They said Thomas was their babysitter at the time of the abuse.
"Children are so young and innocent and nobody deserves something like this," one of the victims said.
The women were two of six alleged victims who have come forward. They said they want other victims to get help.
"I was being taken advantage of by a grown, adult child molester," one of the sisters said. "I hope that anyone else that was affected by this man, please step up. You will be heard."
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Thomas was charged on February 5 with child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault on a child, possession and dissemination of child pornography and other related offenses.
Investigators say the child rape allegations date as far back as 40 years.
Falls Township Police first zeroed in on Thomas in November after receiving a call about sexually explicit writings found on a piece of plywood at the Midway Village mobile home park, said a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10 that contains graphic details of alleged assaults. Thomas had worked as a handyman on a vacant trailer and a new owner found the words describing the sexual assault of two young girls, including names, physical descriptions, parents' names and a date of an alleged assault — Christmas 2014 — police said.
The writer referred to his penis as "one-eyed Willie," police said.
Police compared the writing on the wood to numerous work orders written by Thomas to find that the writing matched, according to police.
Police interviewed the alleged victims but due to the trauma of their assaults, they didn't name Thomas directly by name, officials said. Investigators described many of the victims as "broken people."
Investigators searched Thomas' home at Midway Village and found more than 1,000 prominently displayed photographs and pictures that "depicted naked children, the majority of which were prepubescent" and some that chronicled "molesting," according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators also found writings dating back to the 1970s that documented molestation of children as young as 3 years old, police said.
They also found 500 to 1,000 pairs of prepubescent girls' underwear, some hanging above Thomas' bed, as well as toys and dolls, some with "aftermarket genitals which Thomas created," according to investigators.
"We don't know whether or not he was distributing it," said Weintraub.
The search also uncovered drug paraphernalia and baggies that tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine.
Police interviewed Thomas and he allegedly admitted to having sexual attraction to children dating back to his adolescence. He admitted to pleasuring himself to the child pornography that he has gathered over the decades, police said.
He also admitted to sexually assaulting a family member and a couple children he babysat and also exposing himself to another child, according to police.
Police looked into Thomas' past and discovered other allegations of sexual assault dating back to the 1970s, when a man said Thomas sexually assaulted him when he was just 8 to 11 years old, police said. Thomas would have been 5 1/2 to 6 years older.
In 2010, police investigated Thomas' former Levittown home after a homeowner looking to flip it found "some disturbing items" including a handmade "child-size sex doll," Polaroids of naked children and graphic handwritten notes about performing sexual acts on young girls, according to the criminal complaint. No charges came from that early police report and some of the discoveries were made after police were alerted.
Back in 2000, Thomas was indicted for child abuse after he admitted to writing a graphic note and giving it to a child in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, police said. He told investigators he was taking drugs and on pills at the time and didn't mean to write the note. No word yet of what came of that allegation.
Authorities said some of Thomas' past residences in Bucks County include a home on Pleasant Line in the Pinewood section of Levittown; Pennsbury Woods apartments on New Falls Road in Levittown; Midway Village mobile home park on Bristol Pike in Morrisville. He also worked as a handyman and subcontractor while owing his own home improvement business called Thomas Construction.
Thomas is currently being held in Bucks County prison on $750,000 bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 28.
Authorities urged anyone with information about other possible victims to contact Falls Township Sgt. Christopher Clark at 215-302-3315 and/or Bucks County Detective Lt. Robert Gorman at 215-340-8141. [[412906593, C]]
