On Sunday, after returning home to Charlestown from an overseas vacation, William Lee Rhoads was arrested and charged with sexual assault. Rhoads is a 70 year old retired school teacher and little league baseball coach. He is being charged with multiple counts of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, possession of child pornography, and other related crimes. A police investigation shows that Rhoads sexually assaulted four young boys and videotaped some of the encounters. He is currently being held in Chester County Prison on a $5 million bail.
Chester County Detective, Jeff Gordon has been assigned to the case after being informed on September 9 that Rhoads sexually assaulted a 4 year old boy. Gordon has interviewed three other boys, ages 11, 15, and 10, who say that Rhoads sexually assaulted them over a period of years. The two boys ages 11 and 15 both reported that their encounters were videotaped with a camera that was set up in Rhoads home, where the assaults occurred. First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody states, "These kind of crimes make you wish you could charge someone with the theft of a childhood."
A search of Rhoads's home resulted in the seizure of twelve videotapes. Interviews with the boys shows the extent of the crimes charged against Rhoads. All the boys state that the encounters lasted for years, and with the 10 year old boy, the assaults had occurred for four years.
I must admit that this article truly shocked me. I guess I have somewhat of a stereotype of who I believe commits sexual crimes. I picture most offenders being younger than 70 years old and I also picture the assaults being on females. This article, however, does not fit either assumption. And what shocked me the most is that Rhoads had the videotapes in his own home which he shares with his wife, and she never found them or knew of the encounters. It makes me sick to think that people like Rhoads are allowed to shape the minds of America's youth. And I completely agree with Assistant District Attorney, Patrick Carmody when he said that sexual assault is like robbing a child of their childhood. Incidents of this nature are something children will never forget and could potentially harm their development in the future.
http://.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/09/.txt
1 comment:
I was in total shock when I read this. I can not believe a person could be so selfish with their desires to permanently scar a child's memory of their childhood and life. I'm glad he was caught because he does not deserve to get away with something like this.
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