Serial Sex Offender Is First Defendant Charged Under New Secure DC Law Targeting Repeat Sexual Abusers

            WASHINGTON – Michael Hilliard, 65, of no fixed address, was charged by complaint today in D.C. Superior Court with one count of enhanced misdemeanor sexual abuse (a felony) and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse for sexually touching a treating nurse at George Washington University Hospital, a stranger to him.  The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department.  Hilliard is detained pending a September 30, 2024, preliminary hearing.

            According to the complaint, at approximately 9:00 a.m., on September 26, 2024, the victim attempted to draw blood from Hilliard, where he sat inside of a hospital room. Hilliard requested to sit in a chair to get his blood drawn. As the nurse approached him, Hilliard grabbed her into a face-to-face bear hug.  He then touched her on her genitalia and buttocks.

            Hilliard has more than three prior convictions for misdemeanor sexual abuse. Most recently, he pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court on December 19, 2023, to two misdemeanor charges for sexually abusing a woman and physically assaulting another, both of whom were strangers to him.

            Hilliard is the first individual charged with enhanced misdemeanor sexual abuse, a felony created by the D.C. Council’s Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024.  Before this legislation went into effect, repeat offenders who committed such assaults could not be charged with a felony, no matter how many times this Office had prosecuted those defendants, often for virtually identical misdemeanor sexual abuse conduct.

            “The reason we advocated so vigorously for this change and are so appreciative of its enactment is that there is a relatively small population of offenders who repeatedly commit this offense that are not deterred by misdemeanor convictions,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves.  “This new law allows our Office to charge these individuals with felonies so that we can advocate for them to be removed from our community for longer periods of time.”

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Houck. 

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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