Mesa Police Arrest Child Molestation Suspect
November 16, 2010
On the evening of November 11, 2010, Mesa Police officers
responded to the 100 block of South Parkwood in Mesa, reference
a report of a nine-year-old girl begin fondled by an adult male.
The girl's father looked out their home's window and noticed his
daughter standing by a silver Toyota passenger car. The father
observed the adult male driver grab his daughter on her right
buttock. The father went outside to confront the driver. When he
got outside, his daughter was in the front passenger seat of the
vehicle. The father pulled her out of the vehicle and began
yelling at the driver and the male eventually drove away. The
father was able to provide officers with the license plate
number of the suspect's vehicle. The father stated that the
suspect frequently visits a family in the neighborhood and is
known to his daughter as "Mr. Bill." During an interview with
detectives from the department's Center Against Family Violence,
the victim disclosed that the suspect touched her buttocks while
she was standing outside of his car. She also said he touched
her vaginal area over her clothing with his hand, while she was
sitting on the front passenger seat. Patrol officers later
located the suspect's vehicle parked outside of his residence.
The
suspect, Billy Bryant (seen in photo), was interviewed
by detectives and booked for two counts of child molestation. He
was also charged with aggravated assault for grabbing the
victim's buttocks outside of the car. During the investigation
it was learned that this same suspect is a suspect in another
child molestation case from last year. That case was
investigated, but was eventually inactivated because the suspect
denied the allegations and there were no witnesses or evidence.
At that time, he was a bus driver for Legacy Charter School.
After that investigation, he was terminated and is not employed
as a bus driver at this time. During interviews with detectives,
the suspect and witnesses provided information that lead
detectives to believe that, due to his interaction with area
children and former role as a bus driver, there may be
additional victims that have yet to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mesa Police
Department at 480-644-2211.