Prosecutor’s charged a Greenwood man with 14 felonies, including three at nearly the highest level, after a 12-year-old girl told police he touched her inappropriately and forced her to have sex with him, and police discovered several photos depicting children involved in sexual acts on his computer.
William Sloan, 36, is charged with three counts of child molesting, all Level 1 felonies; child exploitation, a Level 4 felony; and 10 counts of possession of child pornography, Level 5 felonies. The only charge higher than a Level 1 felony is murder.
Sloan faces life in prison if convicted of all charges and ordered to serve them separately. The maximum sentence a judge could impose is 192 years.
Initially, Sloan was also arrested on a charge of rape, but prosecutors chose to charge him with child molesting because it is a higher level offense with higher sentencing guidelines, said Ryan Bland, the deputy prosecutor assigned to these cases.
The possession of child pornography charges stem from images downloaded to Sloan’s computer, which depicted younger children involved in sexual acts. Prosecutors believe they can prove Sloan shared one of those images, which resulted in the child exploitation charge. The victims in the photos are unidentified, Bland said.
Sloan is accused of molesting the preteen girl three times between Sept. 1 and Dec. 9, 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 on Dec. 9, 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, it caused her pain and she didn’t feel like she could get away from him, police documents said.
Between July 1 and Dec. 6, Sloan downloaded several images of children — some as young as babies — naked and being forced into sexual acts and videos of young boys and girls — ages 3 to 7 — engaging in sexual acts, according to separate charging information.
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, the same day Greenwood police responded to the report of his sexual misconduct with a minor.
He was arrested last week and taken to the Johnson County jail, where he is being held on $175,600 bond. Charges were filed Wednesday in Johnson County Superior Court 3.
