A Chester man coerced a teen into a sexual relationship, then blackmailed her when she ended it, DA says

After the underage girl he coerced into a sexual relationship started to ignore him, William Walker sent her harassing messages and texted explicit photos of her to her friends and family, prosecutors said Friday.

Walker, 62, has been charged with trafficking in minors, unlawful contact with a minor, child pornography, and related offenses. He remains in custody in lieu of $25,000 bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

Investigators learned of Walker’s relationship with the 17-year-old when he contacted the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office to report that she had damaged his car, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

During that meeting, the affidavit said, he asked detectives if he would “get in any trouble” if the girl were underage.

Detectives later interviewed the teen, who told them Walker had approached her at a Sunoco gas station in Chester, asked if she’d be willing to “be his friend,” and later promised to buy her whatever she wanted in exchange for sexual favors, the affidavit said.

The girl agreed, and the two began a two-month sexual relationship, during which Walker took her on shopping sprees at local malls and traveled with her to New York City, where he bought her $1,000 worth of gifts.

Their relationship soured in December and the teen ended it, the affidavit said. She told detectives Walker became controlling and threatened to shut off access to the iPhone he had bought for her. He then sent photos and videos of her he had recorded during their sexual encounters to her friends and family, and harassed her, trying to threaten her into continuing their relationship, the affidavit said.

District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer called Walker’s actions “deeply disturbing as well as illegal.”

“He manipulated and used a young woman, fully aware of her age,” Stollsteimer said. “We cannot and will not tolerate this criminal behavior.”