Man charged in sexual assaults of three children dies in Mass. garage fire

A Montague man, who was facing charges in connection with the alleged sexual assaults of three children in 2019 and 2020, died in a fire in Northfield on Sunday night, according to authorities.

Around 7 p.m., Northfield firefighters found a repair garage in a single-story building on East Street engulfed in smoke and flames. One adult was found inside the building and declared dead at the scene.

The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office has since identified the victim in a press release as 47-year-old William M. Willey, who had been renting the shop on the East Street property and whose car was also found at the scene of the fire.

Willey had been on trial for aggravated rape and abuse of a child (seven counts), indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older (one count), dissemination of matter harmful to a minor (two counts), furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 (five counts), and furnishing marijuana to a person under 21 (four counts), according to the district attorney’s office.

The charges involved three different victims for crimes alleged to have taken place in both Montague and Northfield, the district attorney’s office said.

The cause of the fire, as well as Willey’s cause of death, remain under investigation.

Willey’s trial had started last week and was supposed to resume Monday. The jury was expected to be dismissed from service this week.

“This is a tragedy for everyone involved, including the victims in the case, one of whom had testified in court last week and another two and their family members who were set to testify this week,” Assistant District Attorney Anne Yereniuk, who prosecuted the case along with ADA Andrew Covington, said in a statement.