Two of the three young women who recently accused their older male cousin of sexually molesting them in the 1990s while living in the same Menlo Park house say they complained once to their grandmother about it, but that she refused to believe their story, according to a report from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
The male cousin, 28-year-old Tyrone Darnell Williams, is now in county jail and charged with 55 counts of sexual molestation, including rape and sodomy. His bail is set at $1 million.
Mr. Williams, a former employee of the city of Menlo Park recreation department, was arrested Sept. 14 in Oak Grove, Kentucky, after a stakeout involving local police and Menlo Park police detectives, who had been tipped off to his whereabouts.
The molestation incidents are alleged to have occurred when Mr. Williams was between the ages of 13 and 21 and the victims were ages 6, 9 and 14. The two older girls were assaulted between 1997 and 1999, and the younger girl between 1992 and 1999, said Steve Wagstaffe, the chief deputy district attorney, in a report.
The girls’ mother, informed of the alleged incidents by her daughters about two years ago, assumed it was too late to do anything, the report said.
It wasn’t until one of the girls told a high-school counselor that the police learned of the allegations and informed the district attorney’s office, which issued a warrant for Mr. Williams’ arrest, the report said.
Mr. Williams once worked at the Onetta Harris Community Center in Belle Haven, but none of the crimes he is accused of occurred in the context of his work at the community center, said Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan.
The statute of limitations for child molestation offenses is 10 years after the victims turn 21, Ms. McKowan added.
A preliminary hearing is set for 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City.
Because the charges involve several victims, a conviction could mean a prison sentence of 25 years to life for Mr. Williams, who is scheduled to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. before Judge Joseph Scott in Department 25.
— Bay City News contributed to this report
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