Austin Child Advocate Pleads to Molestation

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ An Austin businessman and volunteer children’s advocate has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting six children and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

54-year-old Billy Dan Carroll is scheduled to be formally sentenced next week after pleading guilty to the sexual assault charges yesterday in state district court.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, he is expected to receive life sentences on five charges of sexual assault of a child and an additional 40-year sentence on a sixth charge. The agreement also includes a two-year sentence on a charge of improperly videotaping a 13-year-old girl.

Carroll won’t be eligible for parole until he is 104.

He had been a volunteer children’s advocate since 2004 before officials at Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Travis County suspended him after learning of the allegations. He had owned a court-reporting business in Austin and San Antonio.