Child rape charges dropped as Duval school janitor pleads guilty to lesser offense

A former longtime janitor at Duval County Public Schools was sentenced to a little more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of lewd and lascivious molestation.

Wayne Willis Williams’ trial was set to begin following jury selection Monday, but the last-minute plea deal means Williams will head straight to prison to begin serving a sentence of 51 months, with credit for 265 days served. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon release.

Williams had been charged with 11 counts of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, kidnapping and showing obscene materials to a minor. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors dropped the other charges, including seven counts of sexual battery.

At the time of his arrest on Nov. 8, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office suspected Williams of potentially inappropriate behavior with students. However, the charges he faced did not involve a student where he worked.

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Williams, 63, was arrested after a girl reported she’d been sexually abused by him from January 2019 until August 2022. At least one time, she said she was tied up and restrained during an assault.

Williams worked as a janitor for nearly 30 years at several Jacksonville schools. According to Duval County Public Schools officials, he was removed from Ramona Boulevard Elementary School in September after they learned of the investigation. He previously worked at Raines High, Kirby Smith Middle, Brentwood Elementary, Matthew Gilbert Middle, Louis Sheffield Elementary, San Mateo Elementary, Biscayne Elementary, First Coast High and Highlands High.

The school district said Williams was investigated in 2021 on allegations of asking a student for nude photos. The state Department of Children and Families, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the school district could not substantiate the accusations.

At the time of his arrest, Lt. Jacob Vorpahl said, "While the initial allegations against the suspect did not include any students, as the investigation progressed detectives learned there were highly questionable and likely criminal interactions between the suspect and students at some of these schools.”

Vorpahl asked additional victims, if there were any, to come forward.

"To our knowledge this is the first time the suspect was accused of sexually battering a child, however from information we’ve been able to obtain thus far after interviewing multiple people, there are indications that the suspect has engaged in this type of activity going back to the early ‘90s," the lieutenant said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: School janitor Wayne Williams guilty of molestation in Jacksonville