Vanderwagon Sex Offender Sentenced for Navajo Child Abuse & Kidnapping

ALBUQUERQUE – A chilling sentence was meted out yesterday to William Detwiler, 68, of Vanderwagon, N.M., as he received a 150-month prison term followed by five years of supervised release for the monstrous crimes of sexual abuse and kidnapping against Navajo children. The court in Albuquerque imposed this severe penalty after Detwiler’s conviction on multiple charges.

This despicable individual, with a prior criminal sexual contact conviction, was nabbed on May 31, 2016, following a four-count indictment that accused him of two counts of aggravated child sexual assault and two counts of kidnapping. The charges stemmed from an appalling sequence of events between November 2013 and June 2014, where Detwiler is alleged to have kidnapped an Indian child under the age of 16 years and subjected them to sexual abuse on multiple occasions.

Detwiler entered a guilty plea on August 11, 2016, for abusive sexual contact and kidnapping. He admitted engaging in sexual contact with one victim and acknowledged that the individual was under the age of 16 at the time. Additionally, he confessed to abducting another Indian child under the same age during a specified date range between August 1, 2014, and September 30, 2014.

The investigation into Detwiler’s monstrous actions was a joint effort by the Gallup office of the FBI and the New Mexico State Police. The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a relentless nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, and is also prosecuted under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets repeat offenders for federal prosecution.

This grim sentencing serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing effort to protect our communities from such heinous acts. For more information on Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc/.