Nampa police arrest man accused of sexually exploiting child, look for more victims
A Nampa man has been charged with two felonies after police alleged he filmed a child while she was showering, according to a news release from the Nampa Police Department and court documents reviewed by the Idaho Statesman.
Nampa officers arrested William Walls, 51, on Tuesday after executing a search warrant at his apartment in the 1000 block of South Ivy Street, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the court records by the Nampa Police Department. He was charged with sexual exploitation of a child by electronic means and felony video voyeurism by installing or permitting the use of an imaging device without mutual consent, according to online court records.
Police said they are concerned that there could be other victims, and they said that anyone whose child has been in direct contact or “in the care” of Walls should contact Nampa Detective Ellie Scott at 208-475-5708. People also can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 208-343-2677.
Walls told police he babysits all of the victim’s siblings along with two other boys, according to the affidavit. There were five children at his home when police arrested him.
Walls was booked into the Canyon County jail, where he remained as of Wednesday afternoon, online jail records showed. He’s being held on a $1 million bond, court records showed. A public defender has been assigned to represent Walls, an order reviewed by the Statesman showed. His next hearing is at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 1.
’Didn’t feel safe:’ Affidavit details alleged crimes
The Nampa Police Department learned about the alleged crimes after the victim’s mother reported them to police. The mother said Walls was a friend who babysat her kids.
“She said her kids really liked going to (Walls’) house and would spend the night just for fun,” the affidavit said. Walls also has several children, according to the affidavit.
When picking up her daughter from Walls’ apartment one day, the mother said, her daughter was “acting weird” and she was “muted, very withdrawn” and “not herself,” the affidavit said. The victim told her mother that she found a video of herself in the shower on Walls’ phone and, after she sent it to herself, she deleted it and didn’t say anything to him. The video was taken Nov. 10, according to the affidavit.
“She didn’t feel safe with (Walls) anymore, and didn’t want to go back to his apartment,” the affidavit said.
The video, which was reviewed by police, also shows another underage girl changing, according to the affidavit. Walls continually denied the allegations during a two-hour-long interview with police but toward the end said he did set up the recording.
“He maintained that he did not know why he did it and that he never went back and looked at the video,” the affidavit said. “He advised he did not prepare or plan for it, and decided to do it at the last second.”
When a detective asked Walls during the interview if there were any more videos on his phone, he said that he “did not believe there would be,” the affidavit said.
