Renton theater employees ousted after child rape cases surfaces

Renton theatre employees ousted after past child rapes

A public pressure campaign revealed that two leaders from the Renton Civic Theatre admitted to molesting children in the past.

RENTON, Wash. - The Renton arts community has been rocked by a scandal, after a public pressure campaign revealed two leaders of the city’s civic theater admitted to raping children in the past.

Renton Civic Theatre art director Bill Huls and theater board president Alan Parsons resisted calls to step down until court documents began to circulate.

A whistleblower, working within the theater dug into Huls past and found shocking details of his criminal history.

The whistleblower took the information to the Renton Civic Theatre board of directors, who did not act. She tells FOX 13 Seattle she posted the information on Facebook instead, where it garnered attention and outrage.

Documents FOX 13 Seattle obtained show that in 1990, a then-22-year-old Huls admitted to raping a child.

The document said Huls, who was enlisted in the Navy and working in Kitsap County at the time, sexually assaulted a family friend’s daughter, who was about seven years old.

He pleaded guilty, but court documents show he continued to have issues. FOX 13 Seattle found records that Huls admitted to having graphic sexual fantasies involving children who he personally knew, and he also admitted to being close in proximity to kids while in his theater group.

Until this week, Huls worked at the Renton Civic Theatre as their art director. That is no longer the case following the whistleblower’s post.

She said she found out about Huls’ past after some online research, and when the board of directors failed to take action, she went public with the details.

The board of directors for the Renton Civic Theatre included Hul’s wife, and the president of the theater, Alan Parsons. Parsons is also a convicted child molester.

Court records FOX 13 Seattle obtained show that Parsons admitted to raping a baby over a several-year period while Parsons was a teenager.

This happened in 2005.

Parsons was the little girl’s babysitter when he was 14 years old until he was17 years old, according to the documents. The victim was two years old when the abuse started and five years old when she told her parents.

In the last 24 hours, the theater has been distancing itself from Parsons and Huls. An archived snapshot of the Renton Civic Theatre’s website lists Parsons, Huls, and Huls’ wife on the "About" page. However, all three names have now been scrubbed.

The Renton Civic Theatre refused to comment on this story, but they released their own statement which reads:

"Given recent events, we have several issues to address. The first is this: As of today, Bill Huls is no longer affiliated with Renton Civic Theatre. We have a lot to sort through, but further decisions are coming. Thank you for your patience while we work through this."

FOX 13 Seattle reached out to Huls, his wife, and Parsons for comment, but we have not heard back.

Renton Police tell Fox 13 Seattle they haven’t received any criminal complaints about the theater or its staff members, but the department is encouraging anyone who experienced suspicious activity there to get in touch with a detective.