Judge releases Swansea sex-offender suspect accused in park porn incident

A Swansea man accused of distributing adult pornographic images to minors earlier this month in Mel Price Memorial Park was previously convicted of sexual exploitation of a child nearly a decade ago.

Bill (Billie) D. Tadlock, 70, was charged Wednesday in St. Clair County Circuit Court with one felony and two misdemeanors in connection with the alleged incident in the park. On Friday, St. Clair County Associate Judge Sara Rice released Tadlock pending trial, provided he does not drive, does not leave his home and wears an ankle monitor.

Assistant State’s Attorney Judy Dalan outlined the case at Friday’s pretrial detention hearing as Tadlock’s family watched from the gallery. Tadlock looked at them shortly after sitting down.

Dalan said Swansea police spoke with two adult women and their children the afternoon of Friday, April 10, about a man in a gray sedan allegedly tossing a paper that contained nude pictures toward a teen.

Other children and an adult also saw the paper and were able to give police a general description of the man and the direction he traveled, Dalan said.

One adult told police that a similar incident previously occurred near her house, Dalan said.

After talking to witnesses and reviewing surveillance, police identified Tadlock as a suspect and determined he drives an older-model gray sedan, Dalan said.

She added that police visited Tadlock’s residence on April 13. There, Tadlock allegedly told police he had a computer and printer, but declined their request to see them.

The next day police found a computer that contained the image Tadlock was accused of distributing in a trash can near the Tadlocks’ residence, Dalan said.

Tadlock was charged with obstructing justice, a class 4 felony, for allegedly attempting to conceal or destroy the computer by throwing it away. He was also charged with unlawful presence of a sex offender in a public park and distribution of harmful material, both class A misdemeanors.

In 2018 Tadlock pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child who was roughly 12 years old when the offenses took place, court records show. He was sentenced to a total of 48 months of probation and has since been required to register as a sex offender.

Later in Friday’s proceedings, Rice said these previous offenses were of an “extremely upsetting nature.”

At Friday’s pretrial detention hearing, Dalan argued this history, and the evidence outlined in the most recent case necessitated he stay in jail until trial.

However, Assistant Public Defender Satchel Conroy said his client is a nonviolent offender who is not likely to commit crimes similar to those he’s accused of if released, provided he is not allowed to drive or leave his home.

Conroy listed various medical conditions that Tadlock has, arguing that any more time in jail could be detrimental to Tadlock’s health.

He also questioned some of the evidence Dalan presented. Witnesses reported the man they saw distributing pornography had a beard, and Tadlock does not have a beard, and witnesses were never asked to identify Tadlock in a lineup, Conroy said. Even though Tadlock drove a gray sedan, its condition did not match that of the car the perpetrator was believed to be driving, he added.

There’s also a possibility that a friend put the images on the computer that was found in the trash can, Conroy said.

“We have to get from finding an image on the computer to actually distributing it to minors,” Conroy said.

Ultimately, Rice said her duty at the pretrial detention hearing was not to determine if the prosecution has enough evidence, but if there are conditions that could mitigate any risk a released Tadlock could bring to society.

That answer was yes, Rice decided. In addition to being on home confinement with an ankle monitor and not being allowed to drive, Tadlock must also be under pretrial supervision, undergo a mental health evaluation and follow any treatment recommendations, submit to drug and alcohol tests and make his court dates.

A hushed “Thank God” rose from one family member in the gallery.