An Augusta man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Richmond County jury found him guilty Friday of rape, child molestation and false imprisonment.
Bill Eugene Anderson, 62, was accused of abducting an Augusta 15-year-old from the sidewalk of Pleasant Home Road in July 2020 and taking her to a Gordon Highway motel, where he molested and raped her.
Superior Court Judge Ashley Wright sentenced Anderson to life in prison without parole for rape, plus a consecutive 30 years for child molestation and false imprisonment.
Wright said her 26 years in the court system showed her the broad and multiple impacts a single criminal incident can have.
“The ripple impact on the community is much greater,” she said. “When someone hears that a child has gone missing, that creates a fear that spreads through the community. Everyone in the neighborhood feels unsafe.”
The events can impact the victim, friends and family members in ways that may not yet be apparent. Even the victim’s friend who she’d left the house to meet – but who didn’t show – may feel terrible guilt, Wright said.
The jury of 10 women and two men found Anderson guilty of rape and child molestation, but not guilty of aggravated child molestation and aggravated sodomy. It found him guilty of the lesser charge of false imprisonment rather than kidnapping, which requires physically transporting the victim.
Assistant District Attorney John Hammond said the trial revealed no reason for Anderson to take the girl. They had no connection to each other.
“A 15-year-old was snatched up off the road of the road and we never heard any reason why,” Hammond said. “That’s the scariest thing of all. It makes these crimes especially heinous.”
Anderson has a lengthy criminal record but no prior sex assault charges. He remained on habitual violator status for years based on numerous DUI charges. More recently he’d been charged with shoplifting and drug possession, flunked rehab and had just been sentenced to drug court when the incident took place, Hammond said.
In a victim impact statement Hammond read to the court, her mother said the incident has taken a deep mental toll on her daughter.
“This is every mother’s worst nightmare, to have some maniacs take their child beyond their control and bring harm to them,” the mother’s statement said.
Her daughter will now have to undergo testing for years to ensure she didn’t acquire any diseases from Anderson, she said.
Anderson ordered the girl to get in his car in the early morning hours of July 2, 2020. She’d left the house barefoot to meet a friend who lived in the Montclair subdivision. When the friend didn’t show, she began walking back home on Pleasant Home Road.
“She was just trying to get back home,” her mother said. “Adults should have a moral responsibility to help a child get back home.”
Khary Talley, Anderson’s defense attorney, noted Anderson was a lifelong Augusta resident with “nothing like this in his past.”
An expert who testified during the four-day trial said some of the state’s DNA evidence was inconclusive, although it did not rule Anderson out. Another who works for a child advocacy organization testified that the victim’s demeanor and other characteristics indicated she was being truthful about the incident.
In a statement, District Attorney Jared Williams praised the work of the Special Victims Unit.
“Crimes against children will not be tolerated in this community,” Williams said. “This is exactly what we created the Special Victims Unit to do: send predators to prison and serve justice for victims.”
“The child victim was walking home when this sexual predator saw an opportunity,” Williams said. “He stopped his car, telling her he had a gun to force her into the vehicle. He then drove to the Executive Inn and Suites, known as the Parliament House, and held her in the room without her will. He then forced her to do sex acts under the threat of violence.”
The successful prosecution means “Wild Bill” will no longer be able to hurt another child, having been sentenced to the rest of his life behind bars, the statement said. Special Victims ADA Hammond was assisted by ADA Bailey Marshall. The trial team included DA Investigator Thomas Brown, Legal Assistant Francina Jenkins, and Victim Advocate Darsha West.
