From the website Deadline: “William Hutchinson, who appeared on the Lifetime series Marrying Millions as the suitor of a woman 40 years younger than him, pleaded guilty today to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his Laguna Beach vacation home and was sentenced to 90 days of home confinement in Texas. The Highland Park, Texas, resident, 65, pleaded guilty to a count of misdemeanor sexual battery and was placed on three years of formal probation and ordered to register as a sex offender.”
I checked in with the public information officer at the DA’s office in Orange County. She explained that California has a scale for sex offenders, and that scale will require Hutchinson to register for 10 years. The PIO also told me that the district attorney didn’t prosecute Hutchinson on the felony rape charge because the office lacked sufficient evidence to do so.
For more context, you should read this story we published in 2021 about Hutchinson titled “The End of a Playboy.”
Update (4/30/24): Michelle Simpson Tuegel is a lawyer who represents three women who have civil cases pending against Hutchinson in Dallas County. Those cases are set for trial in November. She issued the following statement, referring to the woman whose complaint in Orange County led to the plea deal yesterday: “I applaud the courage of this survivor, whose bravery in coming forward not only led to a measure of justice for what she went through, but also helped shine a light on the actions of a man who is now a registered sex offender. It is not easy to come forward against a public person and stand in your truth waiting years for a court date, but this survivor’s courage shows the potential impact of every voice.”
Update (5/1/24): Hutchinson’s lawyer, Levi G. McCathern, II, sent the following statement via email: “We are pleased to announce that the Orange County District Attorneys and my client Bill Hutchinson have reached a plea agreement in return for a dismissal of 5 very serious charges. Mr. Hutchinson is pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor, which sentenced him to probation with no jail time and a $150.00 fine. He and his family are relieved to have this matter behind them.”
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