Los Angeles photographer accused of sexually harassing three models

A photographer who posed as a modeling industry expert has been charged with sexually abusing three young people who were pursuing modeling careers in Los Angeles between 2017 and 2023, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced Friday.

William Isaac Thomas Jr., 49, is scheduled to be arraigned in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on July 22 on three counts of oral sex, two counts of sodomy with use of force and one count of attempted sodomy on an unconscious or sleeping victim, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege that Thomas sexually abused the first victim – who was 18 at the time – while that person was pursuing a modeling career from 2017 to 2020, and that he allegedly sexually abused a second victim until 2023 after establishing a working relationship when that person was 19 to 20 years old. The gender of the two alleged victims was not immediately disclosed.

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According to prosecutors, Thomas is also accused of starting a working relationship with a third alleged victim, a then 19-year-old man, in 2022 and sexually abusing him until 2023.

Thomas was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Fugitives Unit on Tuesday and has been behind bars since then on bail of just over $1.5 million, according to jail records.

“The courage these young survivors have shown in speaking out after enduring unimaginable trauma and suffering cannot be overstated, and we stand with them in their quest for justice and healing,” Gascón said in a statement announcing the charges.

“The alleged actions of Mr. William Thomas Jr. are reprehensible. Using a position of power to prey on vulnerable teenagers is an egregious abuse of power that our society cannot and will not tolerate. We are determined to hold the perpetrator accountable for his actions and ensure that justice is served.”

According to prosecutors, Thomas faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted as charged.

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