A Rush Hill man was found guilty of five felony sex crimes stemming from alleged contact with multiple minors between 2005 and 2021
William Joseph Dahl, 41, of Rush Hill, pleaded guilty in court hearing Monday, according to a press release issued by Audrain County Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Shellabarger.
He will be sentenced on March 9 at the Audrain County Courthouse.
Dahl was found guilty of sexual assault for incidents in 2005 and 2007, promotion of child pornography in a 2018 incident and two counts of enticement of a child for incidents in 2020 – one count per victim.
All of the victims were children or minors at the time, including an 8-year-old girl.
The convictions stem from a 2020 investigation by the Audrain County Sheriff’s Office that was turned over to the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team for an independent review due to Dahl’s father’s then-employment with the Audrain County Sheriff’s Office.
As investigators worked on leads from the known victims, other victims emerged from the child pornography and other evidence Dahl kept at his Rush Hill home. More than 50 items seized from the home revealed evidence documenting nearly all of the encounters, including some documentation by photo and video evidence.
“William Dahl’s community now knows what these victims have known for years,” Shellabarger said in the release. “That he had a long history of sexual assault, enticement, production of child pornography, and sexual assault, and that continued for years. Many in the community chose to protect Dahl, pushing these victims’ truth aside with comments like ‘no one will believe you,’ and ‘nothing will happen to him.’ The truth, a finding of guilt, has happened – and the truth of what these victims went through is now made plain: William Dahl’s practice of seeking out young women and assaulting and objectifying them, hiding behind his family’s name and reputation in the community has reached its end – in a prison cell. A clear message has been sent to abusers in our community: we will find you, we will thoroughly investigate your case, and you will be prosecuted fully, fairly and without hesitation.”
According to the release, Dahl admitted prosecutors had the evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all of the charges.
The forensic analysis resulted in prosecution in Audrain County, Randolph County and in the Eastern District of Missouri Federal courts.
He currently faces a 50-year sentence in federal prison for a related case and was previously found guilty of sexual assault in Randolph County.
“Although this case divided our community between an abuser and his multiple victims – the investigation in this case was performed in a professional, straight-forward and thorough manner by the State Technical Assistance Team,” Shellabarger said. “When the courageous first victims came forward, others stepped forward to share their experiences as well. These five victims are not the only ones – this crime affects our whole community.”
