Bucks County and federal authorities have begun locating underage girls who they allege a Hulmeville Borough man got them to undress and perform sex acts during video chats.
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Mark Wills, 61, of Hulmeville Borough, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service near Clarksburg, West Virginia, last Wednesday night as Bucks County and federal law enforcement were actively searching for him.
As previously reported by LevittownNow.com, authorities had issued a warrant earlier this month on charges including photographing, filming, or depicting child sex acts on a computer, child pornography, invasion of privacy, and criminal use of a communication facility, among other offenses.
Will was being held as of this week in West Virginia without bond and is awaiting extradition to Bucks County.
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At a press conference on Tuesday, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced that while investigators have identified at least four victims, evidence suggests there are potentially many more. Four of the victims were in the U.S. and one was in Canada.
“There could be as many as 20 victims in this case,” Schorn stated.
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Investigators located Wills at the Meadowbrook Mall in West Virginia with a backpack containing $50,000 in cash. Schorn stated that Wills had “liquidated his assets” before fleeing.
“We have seen at alarming rates individuals like this preying upon our children online, and it’s thanks to the men and women behind me and their counterparts that we are able to apprehend and prosecute individuals like this,” Schorn said.
The district attorney revealed that several of Wills’ recordings were distributed to others.
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The investigation was began on Dec. 16 when Bucks County Detectives received tips from the social media platforms Kik and Snapchat about a user sharing suspected child sexual abuse files. A subsequent review by detectives confirmed the files appeared to be child pornography.
A subpoena to Verizon helped trace the IP address of the account back to Wills’ residence in the 300 block of Main Street in Hulmeville Borough.
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On Jan. 24, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Wills’ home, seizing multiple electronic devices and handwritten documents listing names and birthdates, with notes indicating the majority were teenagers. Detectives also discovered instructions on deleting social media accounts and apps, along with notes on girls who had shown nudity online, according to court papers.
Detectives uncovered hundreds of recordings of Wills interacting with girls who appeared underage. These recordings included instances where the girls removed their clothing, performed sex acts, and where Wills also performed sex acts, authorities said.
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Wills was reported to have used the screennames 18kevinmcbride, kthompson2009, alexharrison2, lorenzoguerra2, and kevinobrien1007 online.
Residents on Main Street reported seeing county detectives and U.S. Marshals at the home investigators searched for Wills.
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In West Virginia, Wills was reportedly trying to start a new life and had documents to apply for Section 8 housing, according to Robert Clark, supervisory deputy marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Anyone with information that could help investigators has been asked to contact Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354.
In addition to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Warrington Township Police Department, authorities were assisted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, the Bensalem Township Police Department, the Middletown Township Police Department, the Lower Southampton Township Police Department, the Northampton Township Police Department, the Hulmeville Borough Police Department, the FBI, and law enforcement in West Virginia.
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Wills has a history of criminal activities in the region. He was featured in a 1993 Time Magazine article as “one of Philadelphia’s biggest car thieves.” The article detailing his involvement in auto theft since the age of 14.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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