GRAPEVINE, Texas — Updated Saturday at 9:00 p.m. with a response from Governor Abbott.
Police and parents are urging families to be on alert after an alleged child predator is now free on bond despite three separate arrests in two months, including allegations he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy repeatedly over the course of six months at the city-run REC facility.
The boy told police 25-year-old Chansellor 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 of 2019, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The alleged abuse stopped when Hill told REC employees what he’d done, and later confessed to police, according to the affidavit.
“It makes me sick,” said Carol Jones, a REC member who said she hadn’t heard about the allegations from the workers at the facility.
Police arrested Hill in October. In the same month, he was also arrested on charges of indecent exposure near a playground at CJ Hutchins Park, though police say no kids were around when that happened.
Police arrested Hill again in December after a student at Silver Lake Elementary School told police Hill showed him a photograph of his genitals on a cellphone in April of 2018.
“We’d investigated the case at the time, and the father of the child did not want to press charges, and didn’t want his child to be interviewed,” said Amanda McNew, a spokesperson for Grapevine police. “In light of this new case, that parent changed their mind.”
Despite the three arrests, Hill made bail and was back in the neighborhood in January.
“It is concerning, because there’s children everywhere we go,” Jones said.
While Hill awaits trial, he’s not allowed to be at the REC, the library, the convention center or any school.
“The goal there is to make sure that he’s not around children right now,” McNew said.
Hill has not been spotted at any of the places since his last arrest, but police urge families to be vigilant, McNew said.
“Take precautions,” McNew said. “Know where your kids are and make sure that they have an open conversation, so that if something does happen they can reach out to someone that they trust.”
On Wednesday, the Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the REC, said it had created new policies, after learning a segment was scheduled to air on WFAA.
“We have created new policies for the family dressing room, added additional protection at entrances and exits, as well as requiring background checks and badges for volunteers and instructors,” according to a statement provided by the Parks and Recreation Department.
Workers at the REC have been instructed to call the police if they see Hill on the property. The REC also urged its members to report any suspicious activity.
More on WFAA:
- 'No business being a school bus driver': Rockwall man secretly filmed children, police say
- Former Paradise teacher accused of having improper relationship with student
- San Antonio cheer coach charged with sexually assaulting student, records show
- ‘Ted Bundy in the making’: Naked cyclist convicted in 2017 brutal attacks sentenced to 50 years