Police chief and friend raped girl hundreds of times over 7-year period starting from when she was just 4
A police chief in a small town in Pennsylvania and his friend have now been charged with raping a child hundreds of times over a period of seven years that started when the girl was only four years old. The accused, 27-year-old Brent Getz and 28-year-old Gregory Wagner, were arrested and charged on March 26. The alleged child victim told authorities that both men sexually assaulted her and would often do it at the same time.
According to Daily Mail, the incidents took place between 2005 and 2012. Prosecutors said that the investigation started in 2012 when the girl, who was 12 at the time, reported that Wagner had been assaulting her. No charges were filed after that investigation.
Three years after the first complaint was filed, a criminal complaint was made against Wagner but it was dismissed because of a paperwork error. No charged were re-filed.
A police officer then revisited the case in August last year and it was then that the victim came forward and said that Getz also sexually assaulted her. Getz had become the police chief in Weissport earlier this year. Weissport is a town of 412 people in the Leigh Valley in Pennsylvania, which is about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Prosecutors said that Wagner admitted that he and Getz sexually abused the child together.
It was reported that members of the Weissport Borough Council did not know about the active investigation or the allegations that Getz had raped a child repeated for seven years when they voted him in as police chief in February this year. reported The Morning Call.
Weissport solicitor Gregory Mousseau said: "Borough council was not aware of any pending investigation of Mr. Getz. If the council was made aware of it, it would not have taken the action as it did."
Getz's post, which is a part-time job that pays $18 hourly, is the only law enforcement position in the small borough of Carbon County. Both men are currently behind bars.
The victim had said that she was sexually assaulted hundreds of times between the ages of 4 and 11 by both the men. She also said that Wagner had made her watch child pornography with him. It is unclear how the men knew the child.
Authorities found multiple electronic devices at Wagner's home, including his cellphone, which allegedly had Google searches with terms related to child pornography.
Both men have been arraigned on the charges and are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on April 3.