Upper Darby man is accused of sexually abusing a child at a home day care center more than a decade ago

UPPER DARBY, Pa – A 30-year-old Upper Darby man was arrested last week for allegedly sexually assaulting a young child 20 times in his mother’s home daycare more than a decade ago.

According to investigators, William McGrath faces numerous serious charges, including rape of a child when he was 14 years old. The daycare center is not licensed to operate as a daycare center and is not designated. According to investigators, he briefly worked as a park patrol officer for the county.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim visited “Ms. Barb’s Daycare” from the age of six until 2010, when she was five or six and started kindergarten. According to the documents, McGrath would take the victim and another child into the basement and force them to do so by telling her she could play video games.

“William is alleged to have assaulted our victim more than 20 times and raped him more than 20 times at this daycare,” said Superintendent Tim Bernhardt of the Upper Darby Township Police Department. “The strength it takes to move forward now after all this time says a lot.”

McGrath was charged as an adult, even though the allegations stemmed from his time as a minor.

“Based on our understanding of the law and what we learned from the investigation, we decided to charge him appropriately, as an adult,” said District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

No attorney was listed for McGrath in court records as of Tuesday morning. No one answered when FOX 29’s Kelly Rule knocked on the front door of McGrath’s home Monday.

Documents show the victim stated that something bad would happen if she knew it was just her and McGrath at home. She remembers hoping another child would show up so McGrath wouldn’t sexually abuse her.

Police state that “Ms. Barb’s Daycare is not licensed or designated as a daycare center and is assisting DHS and the community with an ongoing investigation. In cases like this, investigators say there is always the possibility that there are additional victims.

A parent told FOX 29 over the phone just last week that her child was attending daycare.

A Delaware County mother, who asked that we not use her name, said her three children stopped attending daycare about a year ago and she spent the weekend having a difficult conversation with them.

“It makes me incredibly sick knowing that there were days when my children were the only ones with Miss Barb,” she says. “Luckily my son gave me the answers I wanted and it doesn’t appear he was affected, but we know there were people who were affected by it.”

FOX 29 continues to work to confirm who McGrath’s attorney is.