Kriti Mehrotra
With HBO’s ‘Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secret’ delving deep into the alleged pedophilic offenses of William “Bill” Flickinger, we honestly get a documentary unlike any other. After all, it comprises not just archival documents but also exclusive interviews with his brood as well as some of his other victims to really shine a light upon the impact of his heinous actions. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about him — with a particular focus on his background, his so-called “addiction,” as well as his ultimate fate — we’ve got the necessary details for you.
Who Was William “Bill” Flickinger?
It was reportedly around the early 1930s when Bill came into this world as a precious young boy with a lot of love, only for things to change as soon as he grew older and stepped into his adolescence. The truth is he absolutely adored his mother yet didn’t actually have a great relationship with his father owing to the latter’s busy schedule as a Zippo executive, infidelity, plus disdain over his gender. “[My dad] and I weren’t very close,” he revealed in the production. “He wanted a girl so bad; he didn’t want a boy. If I did something out of line, I got a beating for it. It was a tough time.”
But alas, none of this excuses the fact Bill then admittedly found himself being fascinated with young girls no matter his own age and then allegedly acted on it almost every chance he got. In those moments of attraction, it was as if it didn’t matter that he was a man of God, had managed to make a name for himself as a chiropractor in his native state of Pennsylvania, or was married. In fact, he apparently molested his own daughter as well as granddaughter too — his victims were seemingly not only strangers but also his own blood, which his wife knew yet kept quiet about out of fear.
That’s because Bill was even horrifically abusive towards her, according to the original, and it was to such an extent she purportedly used self-harm as a convoluted way to just feel something. Coming to her spouse’s pedophilic crimes, he admittedly molested their daughter when she was merely 5 (around 1965), almost exactly a decade before he was publicly accused for the first time. 1975 was the year this chiropractic doctor was charged with statutory rape of a 12-year-old, but since this was his “first offense,” he was let go with a mere slap on the wrist with two years of probation.
This sentence actually allowed Bill to relocate to Harrisburg in the late 1970s/early 1980s with a practically clean slate, meaning he was able to continue his chiropractic work without major issues. That is, until this Herd Chiropractic Clinic employee was found to have taken “sexual liberties with his patients, some of whom were children, and his staff,” and his boss’ tween daughter in 1982. He wasn’t really charged in connection to this matter, yet he was reported to the medical board by the center’s owners, resulting in his license being revoked for good, per Pennsylvania records.
That’s when Bill bought an RV, packed his home, and started moving from state to state alongside his wife to make a living as salespeople in trade shows before ultimately settling down in Florida. Regardless, his “addiction” didn’t stop for a moment — his video camera is proof as it has saved recordings of young girls from various trade events, and then there’s the accusation he molested his granddaughter Angie. Moreover, in 1992, he was sentenced to 4½ in prison for violing an 11-year-old at the Dade County Youth Fair — his first and last stint in prison despite claims he continued his ways.
William “Bill” Flickinger’s Cause of Death
Per the documentary, Bill actually molested minors even while he was in his 80s — his wife had passed after leaving him at the behest of their daughter, his family had cut down communication with him to a bare minimum, and he was unwell, yet nothing made a difference. He wasn’t ever charged again owing to either the young girls not wanting to come forward to the police or in court or the adults surrounding them deciding that pursuing the legal path wouldn’t be the right step.
In the end, Bill ostensibly died in a nursing facility in Miami, Florida — the precise date or cause of his death is unclear as of writing since we couldn’t even find an obituary on him, but it’s possible he passed from his failing health. We should also mention that his family actually donated his body to science rather than bury or cremate him since none of them wanted to deal with the whole process, according to the film. Plus, it’s imperative to note he believed he’d go to heaven because God would have already forgiven him no matter what.
Read More: Saleste “Lois” Flickinger Sadly Died of Colon Cancer
