ALTON - Victim Alisha Taylor shared statements below about the recently announced conviction of William C. Ingersoll, 53, a former Alton Middle School teacher. Ingersoll entered a guilty plea to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse from a case that involved Taylor between 1998 and 2000. With his guilty plea, Ingersoll will receive a sentence of 24 months probation with sex offender treatment. Also with his plea, Ingersoll will be registered as a sex offender for life.
"I am the victim in the William C. Ingersoll case," Taylor said. "I could have taken it to trial and won and he could have been sentenced to jail time. My goal was to protect others and get him out of the schools, and he will get therapy which has shown to be more effective than jail time. To any other victims out there, please don't look at this as a reason not to report! He will have to register for life, and the longer things took, the longer it took for that to happen. This was a guaranteed way to get him away from kids forever."
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Below are excerpts that are taken from Alisha Taylor's impact statement in court about William C. Ingersoll:
"As I wrote this victim impact statement, I tried to decide what to say and how to portray myself. I considered saying that I have overcome, and I’m stronger because of what I’ve been through. There are moments in my day-to-day life where this is true, but really all that happened was the further destruction of a young lady that sent her on a path of further destruction. Destruction of my sense of self, my sense of trust in my family that was already weak, my sense of trust in others, my sense of right and wrong, my ability to have a healthy sex life, and my ability to enjoy life is what really occurred. Nothing good came from the 'relationship' because I was being used for his pleasure, and I feel ok with saying that.
"As a society, we need to start opening our eyes to how great of an impact sexual assault of minors is having on our world every day. When the staggering numbers of sexual abuse cases only represent 20% of the actual cases that happen and only about 1% of them are convicted, I think we have an epidemic of another kind on our hands that needs to stop. I willingly stand here today and say that what he did hurt me and hurt my family, and it was wrong and shouldn’t have happened. I will say that others were complicit with their silence as adults, and that was wrong and it hurt me, as well. This behavior towards children needs to stop! We are crippling ourselves as a society by destroying our children’s chances to succeed before they even get started. That’s what happened to me."
She continued: "William Ingersoll was a very well-respected man when I met him. He was a teacher and one of the better guitar players in the area. He worked at the CD store in town, and he was really cool in the eyes of my peers. The day I met him, his band played, and some of my friends were there and may have even opened the show for them, I can’t remember. I was 16 and always showed up alone, and I was a good-looking gal. I met the band, and Bill made a point to make me feel special and talked to me one on one, got my CD signed by everyone, and ended up exchanging numbers. It worked, I felt incredibly special and called him as soon as I got home.
"We talked all night, and I met him the next opportunity I had to get away. I was an easy target. I should have been in therapy so, when he listened to my sad story and made me feel safe and distracted from my hell of a history, I fell hard and fast. I was quickly groomed to keep him safe, as well. I felt so bad that he was in this situation and couldn’t help that he had fallen in love with someone too young. I was unaware that I wasn’t the first, of course, that was omitted from his sad story. So, Bill Ingersoll, used me as a sex doll through half of my 16th year, all of my 17th year and a couple months into my adulthood when I finally began to understand the severity of the situation and the damage it was doing to my sense of self.
"It’s important that adults speak up when they see something wrong like this. It could have radically changed my life and the lives of everyone around me. He flaunted me around in front of his people and seemed to love that no one would turn him in. It was confusing to me. I thought that if what he was doing was wrong, someone would have stopped him. I even told my stepfather, and he didn’t do anything. This was just fuel for his manipulation of my mind. I was absolutely under his spell and would protect him at all costs against all of those other people who just didn’t understand and in time, I knew who he trusted. His father was a teacher at the high school where I went and very respected. When I was asked about our relationship by a teacher at the school one day my senior year, I said everything Bill taught me, and knew it was especially important because of his father.
"I said everything perfectly and nothing came of it because he groomed me well! So, I lived in fear every day for a year and a half and lied every day to someone because he told me to. I had a very strained home life, and the additional stress was overwhelming. This wasn’t who I was. I didn’t lie, I was a good kid, I had so much potential, amazing young men and women were interested in having caring relationships with me, and I became so angry at the world because I was stuck being his toy. Not angry at him but, everything and everyone else. I met the man that I would spend the next 8 years with. He pushed me to leave Bill, and I ran right into another trap. I had no self-esteem and was too broken to find someone who would care about me."
Greatest Impact Reared Ugly Head Later
"I think the greatest impact he had on me emotionally reared its ugly head when I had children to care for and keep safe and attempted my first loving relationship. How could I send my partner’s daughter to the school that Bill Ingersoll taught at? How could I send my son there? I homeschooled, but I’m not the mother I could have been if I hadn’t been abused. When your sense of safety and peace is stolen as a child, it even takes away from the gift of being a parent or a partner. I never feel like they are safe, because I wasn’t. I can’t live in peace knowing that people like him are everywhere! And with that knowledge came the difficulty of trusting a partner and wondering if they would use my vulnerabilities against me like he did. I was already so vulnerable… it breaks my heart when I think back to how I thought I could take on the world and knew everything, but I was just a scared, sad kid that was able to put on a smile a lot.
"My father killed himself a week and a half before I was born, my mother was angry and abusive, every man who had a chance sexually abused me, and no one was really ever there to keep me safe. Bill said things that made me feel heard, validated, and like he would protect me, so I jumped at the opportunity of safety no matter what the cost to my body, and that is why it is illegal for him to do what he did. He is 11 years older than me and should have recognized as an educator and an adult that I needed a therapist. I should have been safe with a teacher and the teachers around him who knew should have turned him in as they were all trained to do. But it didn’t happen, and the abuse continued for a year and a half.
"Please understand, men like Bill Ingersoll who think it’s ok to act this way towards young girls need severe, long-term treatment! We need to open up the conversation more, people need to talk about the destruction it causes. I’m tired of saying that I’m stronger because of it. It just should have never happened in the first place. I’m weaker and more frightened and trust less because of Bill’s actions. I’ll deal with it and handle it like a boss, but it’s awful to live like this! I’ve been suicidal and wanted to die because what’s the point in trying to move on when it’s there every time you close your eyes or have them open, for that matter. I wasn’t more mature for my age; I was more vulnerable for my age. Change that statement and dialogue! Quit telling children who have been through mass trauma that they are mature for their age… it sets them up for victimization. If you see an adult dating someone who is under 18, report it to DCFS or the police every time, not situationally. Please understand that it is not for you or the person dating that child to decide if it’s ok or not, it’s never ok!"
Genetic Connective Tissue Disorder Diagnosed At Age 36
"It turns out that I have a genetic connective tissue disorder, not diagnosed until I was 36, that causes extreme hypermobility," Alisha said. "It also causes my skin, muscles, and tissues to rip easily. I have Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I am Autistic, I was deemed physically disabled at age 36, and I know that the year and a half of his sexual assault has taken years away from my life, and I hope that I can now have peace knowing that he is being held accountable. This isn’t just for me today, this is for his other victims' peace of mind, as well. Every maroon pickup truck like his, every time I drive by the street where he lived, every time I close my eyes, I see what he did to me, and I don’t want to anymore. I want to be safe and know that safe doesn’t mean manipulated and hurt."
The Positive In Alisha Taylor's Life
"I have spent the last six and a half years in a growing, stable, loving relationship and see for the first time what that’s supposed to feel like as I am healing. I’m grateful to my partner, Rob McDonald, for his patience with me over the last several years. I haven’t accepted love easily, and I haven’t been easy to love. I have had months and years of sexual disfunction at a time because of the abuse incurred by Bill Ingersoll. I’ve pushed those closest to me away at times. Without the patience and love from Rob and our kids, I wouldn’t have had the strength to go through with this.
"Days and weeks sitting alone crying and wanting to die were met with care and concern for the first time. I lost my original family, they’re all gone, but I am building my own family and surrounding myself with love. I’m putting the pieces back together, and now, after 20 years, I’m ready to have some peace in my life with my family. I hope that this destroys Bill Ingersoll’s life for the next 20 years like it has destroyed mine for the last 20 years. It’s his turn to deal with the consequences, and I’m ready to let go and forgive myself for ever talking to him. I would love to meet the Alisha I would have been if that had been the case, and I’m ready to start moving on today!"
She continued: "I’d like to thank Rob McDonald, my partner in life; our kids - Sam and Liliana - who literally kept me going; my best friend - Jessica Cook and her family - the Lotz’s; my high school teacher who I opened up to in 2019 - Annice Brave; my punk rock friends in high school who got me through that abuse without even knowing it- Ryan, Jeff, Sean, and Drew; my step-sister, Ashley, who finally got me to get away from him; Detective Joe Splittorff for believing me and then confirming to build a winnable case; Ali Foley and her team for winning the case and being so incredibly supportive and kind; Tiffany, my victim’s advocate for always being there for me any time I needed her. Also, my friends who avoided cussing out people who wrote negative things about me on social media regarding this case despite the urge to; my friends who cussed out people who wrote negative things about me on social media regarding this case despite me saying none of it would matter once he was guilty; my many therapists; and my new family and friends that support me every day and help me put all of those pieces back together.
"If it weren’t for all of these people, I doubt I’d still be around to do this. Happy Birthday to me!"
Alisha summed up Ingersoll's guilty plea with the following statement: "His guilty plea tells me that I can be safe again and that he was wrong to do what he did. I know that he knows what he did was wrong. How a part of me can still feel guilty 20 years later about telling on Bill, is telling to the amount of grooming that was done and that’s why these cases are important to win. I don’t want to be his victim anymore, and I’m not as of today, my 39th birthday, I am free, and now I am a victor not a victim."
