Additional Victims Found In Online Child Sex Exploitation Probe

Mark William Wills. Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office

A Hulmeville Borough man initially charged earlier this year with creating fake online identities to solicit sexually inappropriate videos from underage girls is now facing additional charges after more victims were identified.

Mark William Wills, 61, is now accused of preying on four additional victims, bringing the total number of alleged victims to eight, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Wills appeared for a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge Daniel Baranoski and waived all charges to trial.

An investigation led by Bucks County Detectives found that Wills allegedly used the identity of a teenage boy to engage in chat and video conversations with the underage females. He is accused of directing them to undress and perform sex acts, and then sharing the images and videos on other social media platforms, according to court papers.

Wills is facing a number of charges, including photographing, filming, or depicting child sex acts on a computer, child pornography, invasion of privacy, and criminal use of a communication facility.

District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said at a late February news conference that investigators had identified four victims. Since then, four additional victims have been identified.

District Attorney Jennifer Schorn detailing the arrest of Mark Wills at a press conference.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

Authorities said all the victims are from out of state and Canada, with the youngest being 10 years old, the district attorney’s office said.

The investigation began Dec. 16 after Bucks County Detectives received tips from the social media platforms Kik and Snapchat about a user sharing suspected child sexual exploitation files. A 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, according to court papers.

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 said they also discovered instructions on deleting social media accounts and apps, along with notes on girls who had shown nudity online, according to court papers.

Investigators said they uncovered hundreds of recordings of Wills interacting with girls who appeared underage. The recordings allegedly included instances where the girls removed their clothing, performed sex acts, and where Wills also performed sex acts.

Wills reportedly used the screennames 18kevinmcbride, kthompson2009, alexharrison2, lorenzoguerra2, and kevinobrien1007 online.

Wills fled Bucks County while local authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service searched for him.

The 61-year-old man was apprehended in February near Clarksburg, West Virginia, after fleeing Pennsylvania.

Wills was attempting to start a new life in West Virginia and had documents to apply for Section 8 housing, according to Robert Clark, the supervisory deputy marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

After Wills arrest in February, Schorn warned parents that her office has seen other cases in the past where an adult targets underage victims.

“We have seen at alarming rates individuals like this preying upon our children online,” Schorn said. “We encourage every parent to discuss this with their children and check and make sure those applications that you’re reviewing them and making sure that there are individuals who are preying upon our children.”

Wills also has a history of criminal activities in the region, including being featured in a 1993 Time Magazine article as “one of Philadelphia’s biggest car thieves.” The article detailed his involvement in auto theft since the age of 14.

In addition to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Warrington Township Police Department, investigators 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.

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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