MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A Monongalia County man accused of “hundreds” of incidents of sexual abuse will spend up to 75 years in prison after investigators say he admitted to the crimes.
The Monongalia County Prosecutor’s Office announced that William Ellis Wiley will serve between 45 and 75 years in prison for three counts of first-degree sexual assault.
According to a press release, the case stems from a report made to the Morgantown Police Department in September 2023 by someone who was once Wiley’s foster child. The victim claimed that Wiley had sexually abused them between 1985 and 1992 while he was 10 to 15 years old.
The victim also provided detectives with a recorded conversation in which Wiley “accepted responsibility for the abuse of the victim.” Wiley was arrested in January 2024.
Documents provided by the Monongalia County Circuit Court Clerk confirmed that Wiley was the victim’s foster parent and that he had been receiving payment from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) while the abuse was going on.
Wiley will serve each of his three sexual assault sentences consecutively, each carrying 15-25 years. Following his sentence, he will be subject to 50 years of extended supervision.