Fort Worth-area man who ‘knew it was wrong’ pleads guilty to sexually exploiting child
A Grapevine man who told a detective, “I knew it was wrong,” pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of taking nude photos of a boy in a recreation center, authorities said.
Chansellor Ormon Hill entered his guilty plea Wednesday morning in federal court to a charge of sexual exploitation of children.
His plea came more than a month after he had pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
He now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Hill still faces three state charges of sexual abuse of a child under 14, indecent exposure and the display of harmful material to a minor.
The Grapevine man was taken into federal custody in January after being arrested a few times and released on bond in the past few months.
In the sexual abuse case, Hill is accused of sexually assaulting the boy repeatedly over the course of six months. The boy told Grapevine police Hill, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and 260 pounds, trapped him in a family bathroom, sexually assaulted him and took pictures on his cellphone between May and October 2019, according to an arrest warrant obtained by WFAA-TV.
The alleged abuse stopped when Hill told a REC employee and later confessed to Grapevine police, according to the warrant.
Hill was arrested in October and later released on $50,000 bond
But days later, the Grapevine man was arrested again on charges of indecent exposure near a playground at CJ Hutchings Park in Grapevine. No children were around at that time. His bail was set at $2,500 on that charge.
Hill was arrested a third time in December after a Silver Lake Elementary School student told Grapevine police that Hill showed him photograph of his genitals on a cellphone in April 2018, according to WFAA-TV.
Initially, the child’s father did not want to press charges, but he later changed his mind, Grapevine police said.
Hill’s trial on the state charges is pending. He was ordered to stay away from the city recreation facility, schools, the library and the convention center while awaiting trial.
Parents concerned about the suspect being out of jail on bond held a community meeting in January.
Even Gov. Greg Abbott commented on Hill’s case in January, saying the Texas state legislature will consider bail reform proposals.
“My office will look into this tragedy,” Abbott said on Twitter
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 2:21 PM.
