Tier III sex offender arrested on child porn charges

SALISBURY, Md. – A Tier III sex offender has been arrested following two separate investigations in Salisbury.

The first incident happened on December 10th, at around 6 p.m. Officers with the Salisbury Police Department were called to the Twilley Shopping Center for a report of a male subject taking pictures of young female children inside one of the businesses. After meeting with management of the business, officers learned that the subject was on a bicycle and was trying to get the attention of the females as he took pictures of them. He fled the scene on the bicycle before officers arrived.

The second incident happened on December 31st, at around 4 p.m. Officers responded to the Barnes and Noble Book Store for a report of a male exposing himself. It was learned that a male was inside of the store exposing himself, and customers reported this to store employees, who called police. At the time of the report, the customer who reported the incident had already left, and detectives are still working to identify this customer.

Through further investigation, 58-year-old Michael Villa was identified as the suspect in both incidents. On Wednesday, Villa was arrested and charged with peeping tom, soliciting for child porn, and possessing child porn. He is currently being held on no bond.

Police are still investigating both incidents, and are asking anyone with information on either incident to contact the Salisbury Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 833-SBY-CITY, or Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776.