Maintenance man at Coast apt. complex preyed on 14-year-old boy. Now he’ll serve time.
An Ocean Springs man said he felt like he was being mislabeled as a sexual predator and asked for leniency before a judge dismissed his claims as nonsense and ordered him to serve 25 years in prison day-for-day for his crimes.
William Skalla, 44, on Tuesday went before Judge Dale Harkey for sentencing on charges of sexual battery and touching of a child for lustful purposes.
Skalla had pleaded guilty to the charges in July.
He worked as a maintenance man at the boy’s apartment complex when he met the minor one day after the boy got off the school bus to go home, Assistant District Attorney Shon Ellerby said.
Skalla said he and the teen became “friends,” but the prosecutor said Skalla started forcing himself on the boy shortly after Skalla first started sending sexually-explicit photos to him.
Skalla went on to repeatedly sexually assault the minor on various occasions over a one-month period ending July 31, 2017.
Skalla said he later got his now ex-wife, Ariel Skalla, to join in and have sex with him and the boy. Ariel Skalla is still awaiting trial for her alleged crimes.
The crimes came to light shortly after the boy’s sister saw some inappropriate texts Skalla had sent to the boy. She told her mom about the messages and the child’s mother reported it to the police.
In court, Ellerby read a letter the boy’s mother wrote on his behalf. In it, the child’s mother said she felt like her son was targeted and vulnerable because was searching for a father figure in his life, but met Skalla instead.
“Instead of being a mentor for the child, the defendant preyed upon the victim’s innocence and used him to satisfy his depraved sexual desires,” Ellerby said. “I commend the investigation by the Ocean Springs Police Department and the courage of the victim during the prosecution of this case.”
Skalla tried to say he at first was trying to help the boy out when he, for example, broke a window.
He said the thought he “could help him a little bit.”
“We got to know each other pretty well and the conversation started drifting to unhealthy topics and that led to unhealthy actions,” Skalla said. “My wife, she’s an adult (and) she can make her own decisions, but I brought this into our home. I made the poor judgment and I take full responsibility for the whole thing.”
Skalla said he didn’t know where his feelings for the child came from, but said, he had no intention of sexually assaulting him.
“We became faster friends and feelings developed,” he said. “I don’t know if it was my weakness. He just happened to be someone that came along and I guess I needed something that I was not getting at home.”
Judge Harkey responded.
“So you expose this boy not only to your degradation but also to your wife’s and y’all used this boy to your sexual gratification,” Harkey said, before imposing the sentence.
District Attorney Angel Myers added: “Protecting children in our community and getting justice for those who have been harmed is a priority for my office. I’m proud that we were able to get justice for this victim. The Court’s sentence reflects the rapid escalation of sexual abuse in this case and the predatory nature of the defendant’s actions.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 2:38 PM.
