Brent Getz: Ex-Pennsylvania police chief gets up to 32 years in prison for child sexual assault
This article contains information about sexual assault that could be traumatic for some readers. Discretion is advised.
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: Brent Getz, a former Pennsylvania police chief, who was convicted of raping a child, has been sentenced to 16 to 32 years in prison. Getz, 30, was convicted of rape and sexual abuse charges in March 2022. He was arrested in 2019 and subsequently fired as police chief in Weissport, a town of about 400 northwest of Philadelphia.
"This verdict holds Brent Getz accountable for his horrific crimes against a child and brought justice to a brave survivor who had the courage to come forward,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said when Getz was convicted, according to Law & Crime. “As a police chief and public servant, Getz’s abhorrent actions betrayed the public’s trust and safety. He will never again be able to use a position in law enforcement to hurt people. My office will always stand up for our children and our most vulnerable, and hold bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he added. Getz was found guilty of rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a child, aggravated assault of a child, and indecent assault of a child.
ALSO READ
Who was Philip Burns? Man, 36, accidentally hangs himself while trying to scare his fiancee
In November 2020, Gregory Wagner, a codefendant, pleaded guilty to child rape. He testified against Getz. At the time of the crime, both the men were adolescents and the victim was four. During the trial, Getz denied that he ever sexually assaulted the victim. Before being fired, Getz served as police chief in Weissport, a Carbon County borough of some 400 residents.
Wagner is reportedly the victim's uncle and had been Getz's best friend at the time of the abuse. The victim had earlier claimed that she was sexually assaulted hundreds of times between the ages of 4 and 11 by both men. She also accused Wagner of making her watch child pornography with him. Several electronic devices at Wagner's home, including his cellphone, allegedly had Google searches with terms related to child pornography.
Among many other sentencings that took place this year is that of Grammy-winning singer R Kelly. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison on June 29 for sexually abusing women and underage girls and boys over the course of several years. US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued the stiff after hearing statements from seven victims in Brooklyn federal court.
Another sentencing was that of Scott Kologi, now 20, who gunned down four family members when he was 16 years old in 2017. Kologi was sentenced to 150 years in prison on June 30. A Monmouth County jury found Kologi guilty of four counts of murder and one count of possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Less than an hour before the new year, on December 31, 2017, Kologi shot and killed his mother, father, sister, and a companion of his grandfather considered his grandmother. Squeezing the trigger as many as 14 times, the then 16-year-old struck Linda Kologi, 44, Steven Kologi, 42, Brittany Kologi, 18, and Mary Schulz, 70, in the Kologi’s Long Branch house, Monmouth County prosecutors said. In November 2019, the prosecutor’s office announced that Kologi would be tried as an adult.
TOP STORIES
The tragic loneliness of Sheila Seleoane: Woman, 61, lay dead in her flat for TWO YEARS
Who was Bruce Johnson Jr? Mother stabs son, 11, to death before turning knife on herself
This year also saw British socialite turned-convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell being sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in helping convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein abuse young girls. US District Judge Alison Nathan said the sentence of 240 months was “sufficient and not greater than necessary" for Maxwell. She was also ordered to pay a $750K fine for her role in the crime.
If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.