A North Carolina man spent years secretly filming underage girls and adult women as they showered and changed clothes on his private boat — which he dubbed, “Yachts O’ Trouble,” according to federal prosecutors.
William Richard Hilliard, Jr., 49, of Cherryville, pleaded guilty Monday to the despicable acts following a multi-state, multi-agency investigation coordinated by the FBI.
In his indictment, authorities described how he recorded nude videos of “unsuspecting” females “aboard his yacht, in his homes, in various hotel rooms, and elsewhere.”
“As Hilliard admitted in court today, law enforcement discovered that, over the course of eight to ten years, Hilliard had secretly produced multiple secret recordings of at least 16 child victims at various locations in North and South Carolina,” prosecutors in North Carolina’s Western District explained in a press release Monday.
“Court records also show that, at times, Hilliard produced secret recordings of victims he had hired as babysitters for his young children, and used multiple hidden devices to record his victims from different angles while they were using the shower and changing clothes,” the release added. “Some of the victims were as young as five years old.”
Hilliard, who was arrested in June 2018, wound up pleading guilty to production and possession of child pornography. He’s facing up to 50 years in prison and over $500,000 in fines.