Parsons man accused of repeatedly raping a child

PARSONS, Tenn.– A man accused of sexually abusing a young child for years is now behind bars.

“It’s so hard to believe that someone can be capable of doing something like this,” Parsons Police Chief Dale King said.

William Godwin, of Parsons, is accused of raping a young child repeatedly over the course of three years.

“We issued 12 counts of rape of a child, and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child,” King said. “We retrieved our warrants and arrested Mr. Godwin on this past Sunday afternoon and took him to the Decatur County Detention Center.”

Because of the severity of the charges, Kings says not many details can be released. However, he says he’s glad an anonymous tip was made.

“You can report these things by calling the child protective services and making an anonymous complaint and tell them what you’ve seen, what you observed,” King said, “They’ll take that to the proper folks and check it out, and it’ll finally come to our hands, and we’ll investigate from there.”

But for now, the emotions about this case are still raw.

“I better leave it at that right now,” King said.

Godwin’s bond has been set at $100,000. He is expected to be in court July 8.