'Daddy,' Who Sexually Assaulted PA Teen Girl, Gets 25 Years In Prison

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A Michigan man who groomed a local teenage girl online, and then traveled from his home state to Pennsylvania where he sexually assaulted the 13-year-old victim in a hotel room, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Mark Allen Hillis, 58, of Southgate, Michigan, was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Hillis pleaded guilty one year ago to all charges in a 14-count indictment against him stemming from the sexual assault and child exploitation of the Limerick Township girl.

Prosecutors said Hillis met the young girl in a YouTube chat room and began an online relationship with her, which included sending the girl obscene images and repeatedly asking her to send him sexually explicit images of herself.

Patch reported on the case late last November when Hillis pleaded guilty to the charges.

Related: Michigan Man 'Daddy' Sexually Assaulted Limerick Girl: Feds

Hillis, known by his online nickname, 'Daddy,' and another moniker, 'Denverpolice#666,' had pleaded guilty late last year to a number of charges, including enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct, manufacturing and attempting to manufacture child pornography, transferring obscene material to a minor and possessing child pornography.

Federal prosecutors said that Hillis had sent hundreds of obscene images and "hounded the minor at all times of the day and night, repeatedly requesting her to produce and send him sexually explicit images of herself via text message," according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

"Mark Hillis not only manipulated a young child into providing him with explicit images of herself, he brazenly traveled across state lines, convinced her to leave her home, and assaulted her — every parent's worst nightmare," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in a statement. "This 25-year sentence in prison will ensure that he will remain safely behind bars, unable to prey on other children, for a long time."

Department of Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge in Philadelphia William S. Walker thanked the Limerick Township Police Department for initiating the investigation against Hillis and "following it through to the end."

"Only through cohesive partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement can investigations and prosecutions like this one be achieved," Walker said in a statement.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele also released a statement following the federal sentencing Friday, calling Hillis "the personification of 'stranger danger.'"

"He used the internet to seek out his victim by connecting with and grooming a young girl, before escalating to sexually assaulting her," Steele stated. "It's such an egregious case that illustrates the importance of parents talking to their children about internet safety and sharing information with strangers on the internet."

The judge ordered lifetime supervision for Hillis upon his eventual release from federal custody.