Upper Darby man accused of sexually assaulting child at in-home daycare more than a decade ago

UPPER DARBY, Pa. - A 30-year-old Upper Darby man was arrested last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a young child 20 times, more than a decade ago, at his mother’s in-home daycare.

William McGrath is facing numerous serious charges including rape of a child when he was 14-years-old, according to investigators, who say the daycare was not licensed or zoned to operate as a daycare facility. Investigators say he did briefly work for the county as a park police officer.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim attended "Ms. Barb’s Daycare" from six weeks old until 2010 when she was five or six and started kindergarten. The documents say McGrath would take the victim and another child into the basement, coercing her by telling her she could play video games.

"William is alleged to have assaulted our victim over 20 times, to rape our victim over 20 times while at this daycare facility," says Superintendent Tim Bernhardt of the Upper Darby Township Police Department. "The strength that it takes to come forward now after all this time says a lot."

McGrath was charged as an adult despite the allegations stemming from when he was a minor. 

"From our understanding of the law and from what we’ve seen from the investigation, we’ve decided to charge him appropriately, so as an adult," says District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

Court records did not list an attorney for McGrath as of Tuesday morning. Nobody answered when FOX 29’s Kelly Rule knocked on the front door of McGrath’s home on Monday. 

Documents say the victim stated that if she knew she and McGrath were the only ones home something bad was going to happen, and remembers hoping another child would show up so McGrath would not sexually assault her.

Police say "Ms. Barb’s Daycare" was not licensed or zoned to be a daycare facility, and they are assisting DHS and the township with an on-going investigation. In cases like this, investigators say there is always a possibility there are more victims.

One parent told FOX 29 over the phone her child was attending the daycare as recently as last week.

A Delaware County mom who asked that we do not name her, says her three children stopped attending the daycare about a year ago, and she spent the weekend having a difficult conversation with them.

"I’m incredibly sick to my stomach knowing that there were days my kids were the only ones at Miss Barb’s," she says. "Thankfully, my son gave me the answers I wanted, and it doesn’t seem like he was affected, but we know that there were people that were."

FOX 29 is continuing to work to confirm who McGrath’s attorney is.