Man posing as Hollywood agent charged with three counts of sexual harassment

LAPD

Los Angeles police have charged a photographer with sexually assaulting three young men who wanted to become models.

The police are looking for witnesses to the alleged crimes and other possible victims.

Police allege that 49-year-old William Isaac Thomas Jr. presented himself as an industry expert to young men. After being hired as their agent, he allegedly “coerced them into undergoing sexual assault,” according to an LAPD statement.

On March 7, 2023, an 18-year-old man reported that he had been sexually assaulted by Thomas in his Hollywood Division apartment. Investigators found further evidence that Thomas had committed sexual assaults against young men between the ages of 17 and 21.

Prosecutors charged Thomas in May with a half-dozen crimes, including sodomy, involving three men. Los Angeles police said Friday they believe Thomas is “responsible for additional unreported sexual assaults.”

Thomas was arrested and extradited from out of state to Los Angeles, where he was taken into custody Wednesday, police said. He is being held on $1.5 million bail.

“He exploited young men by promising them jobs and financial opportunities that he never delivered,” LAPD Detective Brent Hopkins said in a statement. “When he made them dependent on him, the abuse began.”