Sloan
A Greenwood man was found guilty of multiple counts of child molesting following less than 20 minutes of jury deliberations.
The jury found William S. Sloan guilty of three counts of child molesting, each as a Level 1 felony, in Johnson County Superior Court 3 on Wednesday. The only charge higher than a Level 1 felony is murder. The jury deliberated for 16 minutes before rendering its verdict, the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said in a statement to the Daily Journal that child molesting cases are probably some of the toughest cases a prosecutor’s office handles. These cases can take a toll on everyone involved, including the victim, the investigators, the attorneys and the jury, and the prosecutor’s office is proud of the victim for being able to face her abuser and help the jury hold Sloan accountable for his actions, he said.
Sloan was charged in December 2019 after a 12-year-old told police he touched her inappropriately and forced her to have sex with him. He was accused of molesting the child three times between Sept. 1, 2019 and Dec. 9, 2019, and having sex with her at least once, according to court documents. The Greenwood Police Department investigated the case.
A parent of one of the victim’s friends told police the victim told her daughter Sloan had sex with her, court documents said.
During an interview, the victim told police Sloan touched her inappropriately and performed sexual acts on her multiple times a week for at least three years, police documents said.
The victim detailed at least three incidents when Sloan forced her to have intercourse with him. She told police in at least one incident, she tried to get away, but he pushed her back down and continued to have sex with her, according to police documents.
The victim told police Sloan would make her touch him even after she told him no and forced her into sex even though it caused her pain, police documents said.
Initially, Sloan was arrested on a charge of rape, but prosecutors upgraded the charge to child molesting because it is a higher-level offense with higher sentencing guidelines, prosecutors said at the time.
Sloan is also facing child sex crime charges in a second case that was also filed in December 2019. He was charged with child exploitation, a Level 4 felony and 10 counts of possession of child pornography, Level 5 felonies.
Between July 1, 2019 and Dec. 6, 2019, Sloan downloaded several images of children naked and being forced into sexual acts and videos of young boys and girls engaging in sexual acts, according to court documents.
Police had been investigating Sloan’s IP address for months, according to police documents.
Police served a search warrant at Sloan’s home in the 700 block of Fairview Drive East on Dec. 6, 2019, the same day Greenwood police responded to the report of his sexual misconduct with a minor.
Sloan’s sentencing on the Level 1 felony case is set for Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m. The child pornography case is pending, and a hearing is set for Aug. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
If there are others out there who have been abused, or if people know someone who has, Villanueva encourages them to speak up about it.
“This case came about because a friend of the victim couldn’t in good conscience keep her secret and spoke up about it. There are surely many more out there, and we want to help,” Villanueva said.
