In a disturbing case out of Pennsylvania, a small-town police chief and an acquaintance have been arrested and charged with the rape of a child. The allegations involve a young girl who was allegedly abused over a period of several years.
According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Weissport Police Chief Brent Getz, 27, and Gregory Wagner, 28, are accused of sexually assaulting a girl from the time she was four years old until she was eleven. Weissport, Pennsylvania, is a small community with a population of just over 400 residents, according to the 2010 census.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office announced the arrests on Wednesday, detailing the charges against Getz and Wagner. The charges, filed on Tuesday, include rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and other related offenses.
Authorities had investigated the case on multiple occasions since 2012. However, the recent search of Wagner’s home led to new evidence and the subsequent filing of criminal charges, as reported by NBC News.
“The defendants terrorized this young victim by assaulting her hundreds of times over seven years,” Shapiro stated. “My Office will listen to survivors and prosecute anyone who sexually abuses children to the fullest extent of the law we are able — no matter how much time has passed.”
To protect her identity as a minor and victim of sexual assault, the girl has not been publicly identified.
The investigation initially began in 2012 after the girl, then 12 years old, disclosed the abuse to a substitute teacher, who then reported Wagner to the Franklin Township Police Department. At the time, Wagner denied the allegations, and no charges were filed.
The case was reassigned in 2015, but a judge dismissed the criminal complaint due to a paperwork error. The girl had told authorities in 2012 that she was orally and vaginally violated several times a week, in addition to being sodomized, according to the criminal complaint. She also alleged that Wagner, a relative, made her watch pornography depicting teenagers.
A nurse who examined the girl noted that many of her symptoms, including a history of urinary tract infections, were consistent with sexual abuse.
The police in Franklin revisited the case in 2018 and asked the victim to return for an interview. During this interview, she stated that Wagner’s friend, Getz, had also participated in the assaults.
During a search of Wagner’s home on Tuesday, police located numerous electronic devices containing Google searches indicative of child pornography. Wagner subsequently confessed to having sexual intercourse with the girl on at least three occasions when interviewed by police Tuesday, according to the criminal complaint. He also reportedly revealed that Getz had sexual contact with the girl while Wagner played video games in the same room.
The case was referred to the state’s attorney general because Getz was a police officer employed or formerly employed at several police departments in Carbon County. It was not immediately clear whether the men have attorneys.