Former Stafford County school official faces 111 felony charges involving child molestation

By Keith Epps
Fredericksburg.com
June 4, 2014

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2014/06/03/former-stafford-county-school-official-faces-11-felony-charges-involving-child-molestation/

Villacres

CORRECTION: Villacres was the head of the Stafford Education Foundation in 2008. An earlier version of this story had the incorrect name for the group.

A former chairman of the Stafford County School Board has been indicted by a Stafford grand jury on 111 felony charges involving child molestation.

Thomas Francis Villacres, 53, of Rockledge, Fla., is charged with 48 counts of aggravated sexual battery, 48 counts of indecent liberties with a minor and 15 counts of object sexual penetration.

Villacres, who was indicted Monday, is being held in Florida pending extradition to Virginia.

Stafford Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bill Kennedy said the charges involved four children who were between the ages of 6 and 10 when the alleged offenses took place over an eight-year span in the 1990s. The victims are now in their 20s, Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the allegations came to light while Villacres, a federal government employee, was undergoing a routine background check.

The findings from the check were reported to the Stafford Sheriff’s Office, and Detective Pat Tudor began the investigation that resulted in the 111 charges.

Another law-enforcement source said that Villacres is employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency and undergoes periodic polygraph tests as part of his employment. Prior to taking one of the polygraphs, the source said, Villacres made a statement that prompted authorities to begin the investigation.

Villacres served on the Stafford School Board as the Garrisonville representative and was the chairman his last year. He was the head of the Stafford Education Foundation in 2008 and was involved with a number of other organizations, including St. William of York Catholic Church.

He was a former teacher and was an officer in the Army and Army Reserves form 1980 to 1993. He lived on Arbor Lane when he ran for re-election to the School Board in 2005.

Villacres is currently on suspension from his government job.