PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. -- The Prince George County community is reacting strongly a day after its former Assistant Superintendent of Schoolswas arrested on felony child sex crime charges.
“I’m horrified,” said Chelsea, a parent of three children.
William Barnes, 78, was charged with nine felony counts, including aggravated sexual battery, indecent liberties with a minor and sexual assault by force or threat.
WATCH: William Barnes accused of child sex abuse
Barnes was indicted by a grand jury on July 15, for the alleged crimes that investigators say took place in the 1980s.
His adopted son Donald Newbold says Barnes started molesting him when he was just 14 and claims the abuse didn’t end until he was 17.
“Got to the point where if I would just let it happen then it would go away faster. If you fought him, it was just going to take longer,” said Newbold. “To keep you from doing anything about it he would take toys because I liked remote control cars and things like that, and he would leave a trail of toys to the bathroom. So, as you were going to the bathroom to clean yourself up you picked your toys up on the way,” he added.
CBS 6 had been investigating claims against Barnes for nine months prior to his arrest.
As we were first to report Tuesday, according to sworn affidavits Newbold is not the only one making sexual assault allegations against Barnes. There are multiple accusers.
“Someone crawled up in the sleeping bag... and was kind of spooning me from behind, said Brian Carr. “I could feel his whiskers on my shoulders and neck. And he started fondling me, but I won't having no parts of that.”
WATCH: Former Virginia school administrator arrested, accused of child sex abuse
“I know for a fact that teenagers talk,” said Chelsea. “We need to listen more and stop ignoring the kids and start talking. We're not listening.”
“The system is failing us, and I don't trust them and so I was going, we were homeschooling my new grandson here,” said a Prince George grandmother who did not want to be identified. “Rumors to me lead to a whole lot of truth that's being blocked,” she added.
There has been an overwhelming reaction to Barnes's arrest online.
Barnes is scheduled to appear in the Prince George Circuit Court Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
CBS 6 reached out to Barnes’s attorney Jay C. Paul for comment and has not received a response.
CBS 6 reached out to the Prince George County Public School system.
"It is not our practice to comment on matters related to personnel or active law enforcement investigations. But we can share that the school board and administration take allegations of this nature very seriously and will cooperate fully with any law enforcement investigation if requested to do so," a school system spokesperson responded.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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