Dallas-area developer and reality TV star, Bill Hutchinson, has escaped indictment on a sexual assault charge after a grand jury decided there was inadequate evidence of guilt on Wednesday.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Levi McCathern, an attorney for Hutchinson, said the grand jury’s failure to indict was a vindication for his client.
“[Authorities and the grand jury] took the allegations made against Mr. Hutchinson seriously, investigated them thoroughly, and, in the end, established what I have always known — Bill Hutchinson is innocent, and the accusations made against him are false,” he said.
Hutchinson, 64, was arrested in Highland Park in July 2021 after a 17-year-old girl claimed she had been sexually assaulted by the reality TV star one month prior. The 17-year-old girl — who was living with Hutchinson and his family — claimed Hutchinson touched her inappropriately while she was in her bedroom. The teenager claimed the abuse began when she was 16 years old.
The girl told police that sometime in May 2021, she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to find Hutchinson sexually assaulting her. Furthermore, according to an arrest affidavit, the teenage girl claimed Hutchinson had touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions.
The teenager also alleged Hutchinson had allowed children to smoke marijuana in the house on multiple occasions while she was staying there. She added that the 64-year-old reality TV star provided the children with alcohol on various occasions.
The document also reveals that the teenager had moved in with Hutchinson and his family so she could finish her junior year of high school when her family had moved to Fort Worth.
Denying all allegations, the reality TV star asserted, “I’m innocent of this charge and accusation. Anyone who knows me in this city knows that I am not capable of assault, sexual or otherwise. Hopefully, all of my colleagues and friends will give me the benefit of the doubt until I prove my innocence in court.”
Hutchinson also denied allowing drugs or underage drinking anywhere near his home.
Following Hutchinson’s arrest, the teenager’s family sued the developer last August 16 in a Dallas County district court. According to the lawsuit, the teenager claimed Hutchinson told her she was “the new Bri.” Bri refers to Hutchinson’s 23-year-old fiancée, whom he met when she was an 18-year-old hostess at a Tex-Mex restaurant.
The lawsuit also claimed that Hutchinson expressed approval of the actions of Jeffrey Epstein and that he described the late accused sex trafficker as “a lover.”
Hutchinson’s real estate firm Dunhill Partners and Virgin Hotels Dallas were named as additional defendants. The suit claimed both entities knew of Hutchinson’s behavior, financed excursions during which the millionaire allegedly assaulted minors, and did nothing to prevent “the reasonably foreseeable” sexual assaults.
The family sought compensation of more than $1 million.
“Mr. Hutchinson will soon learn the hard lesson that wealth, power, and celebrity [do] not grant someone a license to sexually assault children in Texas or anywhere else,” Charles E. Soechting, Jr., one of the girl’s attorneys, said in a written statement when the suit was filed.
Hutchinson’s attorney, McCathern, hit back at the lawsuit, claiming the accusations were false and that his client is innocent of the allegations.
“I believe the filing of this lawsuit has revealed to the public what we have always known. That this is really about money,” McCathern said in a written statement. “The allegations supporting the criminal and civil case are and have always been false, and we look forward to showing as much with our day in court.”
Hutchinson still faces a separate lawsuit from several women in Dallas County and another sexual assault lawsuit involving a college student now in her early 20s.
