A former Lexington County police chief faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

66-year-old former Pine Ridge Police Chief William Bruce Parker (AKA “Parker,” “Willie Boner” and “John Wayne,” per a press release from the U.S.Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina), pleaded guilty recently to cyberstalking resulting in serious bodily injury and communicating threats with the intent to extort victims for the production of pornography and coerced sex acts.

The release states that at a plea hearing, Parker admitted to sending a series of threatening emails, texts, and voice messages in 2021 and 2022 from fake accounts and phone numbers to numerous female victims. 

“His messages demanded his victims produce and send pornographic videos and photographs or he would harm the victims and their families, including physical and sexual violence directed at his victims and their spouses, children, and grandchildren, if they did not comply with his demands,” the release states. “In his threats, he named particular communities in which his victims engaged, he threatened specific family members, and he promised harm if they went to the police.”

According to the release, following these demands the victims reached out to Parker for advice and help due to his 35 years of experience in law enforcement. It states that Parker lied to the victims about working with law enforcement agencies on investigating the threats, adding that he instructed the victims to produce and send the pornography.

“He also falsely promised victims that by responding, police would be able to track the emails and identify the extortionist,” the release claims.

The release states that once Parker had coerced the pornography, he proceeded to threaten to leak it to obtain more. His threats culminated with demands that the victims engage in sexual acts with Parker, record the conduct, and send to the extortionist accounts.

According to the release, Parker admitted to engaging or attempting to engage in non-consenual sexual acts with these victims. During a bond hearing, the government indicated there is evidence of additional victims outside the two listed on the charging document.

The release states that Parker faces up to 20 years in federal prison and was ordered to be detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges, pending sentencing. U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Parker on Jan. 31, 2024.

According to previous reporting by the Chronicle, Parker was arrested Feb. 18 and released from the Lexington County Detention Center after meeting the conditions of his bond.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliott Daniels and Elle Klein prosecuting the case.

According to The Lexington Ledger, Parker lost his job in 2018 when the Pine Ridge Town Council decided it was “separating” from him while he was out with an injury. The reasons he was let go are unclear.

The separation was the start of a contentious saga for the town’s police department, as it parted ways with five chiefs in a three-year span. Parker was previously part of the Cayce Police and the state Highway Patrol.