A Cherryville, North Carolina, man was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on charges of sexual voyeurism and photography and violating a place of privacy, officials said.
Records show William Richard Hilliard Jr. was booked into jail early Monday morning.
Hilliard lives on the outskirts of Cherryville. He's part of a prominent family that owns a high-tech foam molding business.
A group of his alleged victims was in court asking a judge to keep him behind bars.
“Give us a no-contact order as well, because I do not want any contact from him or him around any of these girls that are present,” the mother of one of the girls said.
One of the alleged victims said, “It’s not fair for me and the rest of these girls that have to live in the same community as him to have to. He knows where I live. He knows my family.”
WSOC-TV learned Hilliard invited a group of eight girls to his boat in Myrtle Beach this weekend, including three minors.
A mother of one of the girls said she was also there to chaperone.
She said Hilliard told the girls to use the shower on his yacht Sunday night. She said, “My daughter saw an iPad sticking out of the duffel bag just a little bit.”
She said it was recording video “and for her to have to see what he has videoed is sick.”
“If he knew anything about criminal justice, he would realize that videoing girls in a shower in which was premeditated is wrong, completely wrong,” the mother said in court.
That mother said they found dozens of files on the iPad spanning years.
So the mom and girls hatched a plan. The mom pretended she was sick and passed out. They said they did that to escape Hilliard, who they said was armed. They took the iPad and drove straight to the police station.
Investigators reviewed the iPad video, then told Hilliard to turn himself in. He did around 11 p.m. Sunday.
The mother asked, “What else have you done? There’s so much more that has been done, because who can be this sick?”
“Ma’am, my heart breaks for you,” the judge said.
WSOC-TV learned there will be additional hearings for other cases before Hilliard has an opportunity to post bond, including in Gaston County.
The mother we spoke with told us he also secretly recorded video of babysitters at the house in Cherryville.
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