Developer Bill Hutchinson Sued Over Sexual Assault Allegations
Highland Park developer Bill Hutchinson, who already faced criminal charges and a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct, has been sued again — this time by the family of a Tarrant County girl who alleges Hutchinson sexually assaulted her beginning when she was 16.
The teen is the accuser in Hutchinson’s sexual assault case from Highland Park and one of the juveniles he’s accused of abusing in Laguna Beach, California, according to court documents.
Hutchinson pleaded not guilty to the California charges and has denied the allegations in media reports.
“The allegations supporting the criminal and civil case are and have always been false, and we look forward to showing as much with our day in court,” attorney Levi McCathern told the Dallas Morning News.
The lawsuit, which seeks damages of more than $1 million, includes Dunhill Partners, the commercial real estate company Hutchinson founded, and Virgin Hotels Dallas as defendants.
The teen, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe 2, became friends in 2019 with two girls who lived with Hutchinson and often visited Hutchinson’s Highland Park home, according to the lawsuit.
Jane Doe 2 stayed at Hutchinson’s home after her family moved to Tarrant County so she could continue going to the same school, court documents state, but her family declined Hutchinson’s offer to become her legal guardian.
She was also invited to Hutchinson’s homes in Miami and California, as well as a resort in Arizona — vacations that “often involved Hutchinson hanging out on beaches and boats with the bikini clad minors while they drink alcoholic beverages supplied by him,” the lawsuit reads.
Hutchinson made “creepy and inappropriate” advances during an April trip to California and one morning, the girl woke to Hutchinson raping her, court documents state.
The behavior continued during another trip to Laguna Beach in April, as well as at Hutchinson’s Highland Park home, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit describes Hutchinson as a “methodical and deliberate predator” whose alleged assaults caused “what will be lifelong trauma.”
“Mr. Hutchinson will soon learn the hard lesson that wealth, power and celebrity does not grant someone a license to sexually assault children in Texas or anywhere else,” Charles E. Soechting Jr., one of the girl’s attorneys, said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News.
Hutchinson was arrested in Highland Park July 6. Authorities in California filed one count of rape and five misdemeanor counts of sexual battery against Hutchinson on July 9. Another woman in Texas sued Hutchinson that day, alleging he tried to “force himself on her” at a Dallas apartment.
(READ: HP Developer Faces Additional Charges In California)
He has a pretrial hearing for the California charges set for Oct. 22.
Read more from the Dallas Morning News here.
