Former elementary school janitor charged with sexual abuse of a child again after fifth victim comes forward

SPANISH FORK, Utah (ABC4) — A former elementary school janitor involved in four child sexual abuse cases has been charged again. This time, he is accused of sexually abusing a young neighbor in the early 2000s.

Adrian Villar, 66, has been charged with one count of sexual abuse of a child, two counts of sodomy on a child, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of lewdness involving a child. He is now facing four criminal cases involving five child victims.

According to court documents, a victim contacted the Spanish Fork Police Department about multiple sexual assaults allegedly committed by Villar between 2000 and 2003. The victim stated that his family lived next door to Villar, and at this time, the victim was between 4 – 6 years old. Villar would have been in his 40s.

The victim reported that he would go to Villar’s house to play with a friend around his age, and that Villar would sexually assault him. Villar allegedly exposed himself to the child and sexually abused him multiple times.

After the sexual assault, Villar would allegedly threaten to kill the victim if he told anyone. He was “stern to the point that the victim was convinced that his life was in danger if he ever spoke of the assaults,” documents say. Since then, the victim reported that he has spent a lot of time in therapy and experienced severe trauma and fear as a result of Villar’s alleged abuse.

Villar has been in the Utah County Jail since his arrest in July and is still being held without bail.

Previous accusations

Earlier this year, in July, a now-teenage victim came forward about sexual abuse allegedly committed by Villar while the victim was attending Sierra Bonita Elementary School in Spanish Fork several years ago, where the 66-year-old formerly worked.

The victim told police that Villar had asked him to come into a bathroom that was labeled out of order and help him clean up a mess. When the victim went inside, Villar allegedly sexually abused the child. Afterward, Villar allegedly “threatened to kill the victim’s parents” if he told anyone what happened, and looked “angry.” The victim felt “terrified” and anxious about seeing Villar again.

Villar was previously arrested and charged in 2018 for the alleged sexual abuse of two children attending Sierra Bonita Elementary School. He is facing two charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and one charge of lewdness involving a child.

According to documents, the two young boys were attending the special needs program at the school when the assault happened. The two children, ages 8 and 11 at the time of his 2018 arrest, told police that he had taken them to secluded areas to sexually assault them and told them to keep it a secret.

In December 2023, while on pretrial release for his 2018 case, Villar was arrested by the Santaquin Police Department after a victim told police that she had been sexually abused by the former janitor during the 2017-2018 school year at Santaquin Elementary School.

The female victim told police that she had been forced into a closet and sexually assaulted by the janitor. After that abuse, he allegedly threatened to “hurt her or anyone she loved if she told anyone about what he was doing.”

In 2023, Nebo School District shared the following statement about Villar.

Adrian Villar is no longer employed by Nebo School District. Our hearts go out to the victim for all they experienced. Nebo School District is committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. We believe that every student deserves to feel safe and respected at school. We want to make it clear that inappropriate behavior, including sexual misconduct and harassment by students or staff, is not tolerated. Nebo School District currently has and has had for many years policies and trainings that address student and employee misconduct, including sexual misconduct and harassment, and that we are continually improving and refining our policies and trainings.  We remain unwavering in our mission to create a safe and supportive environment for students in our district.
Nebo School District’s 2023 statement on Adrian Villar