Reality TV dad pleads guilty to child rape
US reality TV star Toby Willis has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars after pleading guilty to four counts of child rape.
PEOPLE report that the 46-year-old – who is best known as the patriarch of TLC’s hit show The Willis Family – received two 25 year sentences and two 40 year sentences.
It’s believed these will run concurrently and be served out by the father of 12 in their entirety.
Authorities first began investigating Willis in 2016 in connection with the sexual abuse of a minor 12 years earlier. The young girl was aged between three and 13 at the time.
He initially fled from his hometown in Tennessee only to be arrested a month later and charged with three additional counts of rape.
Alongside his children and wife Brenda, Willis first shot to fame after competing as a family of Irish-influenced musicians on America’s Got Talent.
The conservative clan were known for their “strong Christian values.”
“We try to just kind of stay true to what the Bible says and live that in a very loving, non-judgemental way without pushing that on anyone else,” Brenda told PEOPLE in 2015.
This article first published on New Idea.
