Former TV Star Will Hayden Gets 2 Life Sentences For Rape
After spending years in front of television cameras for the reality TV series "Sons of Guns" on Discovery Channel, 51-year-old William Hayden, will now likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced Thursday to two life sentences and another 40 years for raping two pre-teen girls.
The life sentences are to run concurrently while the additional 40 year sentence is to run consecutively.
This is after a jury in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, unanimously convicted him April 7 on two counts of aggravated rape and one count of forcible rape, the Advocate reported.
The actor, who had denied all charges, is not eligible for probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He raped the two girls — the older victim being 37 now and the younger one 15 — in East Baton Rouge Parish. He sexually assaulted the older one in the early 1990s and the younger one several years ago, according to the Advocate.
Read: Sexual Assault Victims Describe 'Stealthing' As ‘Nonconsensual Condom Removal’
After Hayden's sentencing, his older victim emerged with a smile from state District Judge Mike Erwin's 19th Judicial District courtroom, and said "Thank God!" However, when a reported asked her questions about the case, she reportedly did not speak.
The younger victim was not in the courtroom for the sentencing but was present during the April 7 verdict. Later she and Hayden's older victim cried and hugged inside the state courtroom, the Advocate reported.
On that day, the jury had deliberated for almost an hour after days of testimony that included emotional descriptions of the incidents by the girl and the woman. The oldest victim said she was raped by the star in the 1990s when she was between 12 and 13-years-old, whereas the other victim said she was 12 when she was raped in 2014.
Hayden's convictions came at the time National Crime Victims' Week was being observed, according to East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney, Hillar Moore III.
"We no longer have victims in this case, we have survivors," Moore said outside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse, from where Hayden's accusers left without commenting on the verdicts. "This is the survivors' day," according to reports.
The former star still faces rape and other sex crimes charges in Livingston Parish, including an aggravated rape count involving the same 15-year-old girl raped by Hayden in Baton Rouge.
The other sex crime allegation is from his oldest daughter and former "Sons of Guns" co-star Stephanie Hayden. Stephanie had alleged her father entered her bedroom one night about two decades ago while intoxicated, pinched and kissed her while trying to disrobe her. She had reportedly escaped and not let her father touch her inappropriately again.
The trial is scheduled for July 10 and Hayden denies these allegations as well.
After Hayden's arrest on aggravated rape charge in 2014, the Discovery Channel canceled his show, which was about Hayden, his adult daughter and their company, Red Jacket Firearms.
Discovery Channel spokesperson Laurie Goldberg had said in an emailed statement production of the show was halted and the series canceled due to “the serious and horrific nature of the charges” against Hayden, Page Six Had reported.
Hayden's show "Sons of Guns" aired on the Discovery Channel from 2011 to 2014 and featured Red Jacket Firearms, a custom gun shop in Baton Rouge.
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