TOMS RIVER — An Ocean County grand jury has returned an indictment against a Manchester Township man accused of sexually abusing a child, authorities said.
Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that Darnell Williams, 34, was indicted Dec. 17 on charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to investigators, the alleged abuse occurred between 2010 and 2013 and involved a minor who was under Williams’ care in Manchester Township. Williams was initially charged in the case on Sept. 17 and served while being held at the Atlantic County Jail.
Authorities said Williams is currently detained on multiple charges, including three counts each of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct stemming from separate incidents in Atlantic County.
In a related matter, Williams was charged again on Oct. 6 with two counts of criminal sexual contact and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. That investigation alleged inappropriate contact with a minor between 2020 and 2023 in Manchester and Stafford townships. Those charges remain pending, officials said.
Billhimer credited Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Juan for presenting the case to the grand jury and praised investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and High Tech Crime Squad, Manchester and Stafford township police departments, and law enforcement agencies in Atlantic and Mercer counties for their coordinated work on the investigation.
All charges are accusations, and Williams is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
