Former Alabama mayor charged with rape, ethics conviction probation revoked
Published 6:09 am Saturday, November 27, 2021
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that former Mosses Mayor Walter Sylvester Hill has been charged with rape, resulting yesterday in the revocation of his probation for a prior ethics conviction and his return to prison.
In January 2017, Hill pleaded guilty to a felony ethics charge of using his office for personal gain. His conviction resulted from multiple schemes perpetrated by Hill to unlawfully direct more than $25,000 belonging to the Town of Mosses to his personal bank account or to pay his personal bills. Hill was sentenced to five years in the Alabama Department of Corrections, serving approximately three months in incarceration, with the remainder of the sentence on community corrections followed by probation.
In November 2021, while Hill was on probation, the Montgomery Police Department received a complaint that Hill forcibly raped a 12-year-old child in Montgomery County. Following Hill’s arrest on the rape charge, his probation officer issued a delinquency report to Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin, who set a revocation hearing on November 23.
Attorney General Marshall’s Office presented evidence and testimony from multiple witnesses, and at the conclusion of that hearing, Judge Griffin was reasonably satisfied that Hill committed the offense. Judge Griffin revoked Hill’s probation and ordered him to serve the remainder of his five-year prison sentence for the ethics conviction.
The ethics case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted by its Special Prosecutions Division. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the underlying rape charge against Hill. The defendant has been arrested on a warrant*, but the case has not yet been presented to a grand jury.
Attorney General Steve Marshall thanked the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, Child Protect, and the Montgomery Police Department. He also thanked Assistant Attorneys General Katie Langer and Kyle Beckman, as well as Special Agents of his Investigations team.
*An arrest warrant is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.