A jury convicted Brent Getz (above in mugshot courtesy of Pennsylvania AG) on all possible counts last week, court records show. These include rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and indecent assault of a child under 13.
The Pennsylvania police chief who lost his job amid horrifying allegations of child rape is heading to prison.
A jury convicted Brent Getz, 30, on all possible counts last week, court records show. These charges include rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and indecent assault of a child under 13.
Getz now waits to learn what his sentence will be for those crimes.
“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,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D). “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.”
The victim had to share her story countless times for seven years and provide video evidence of her uncle’s sexual abuse before any arrests were made in the case.
According to the criminal complaint, the girl’s uncle, Gregory Wagner, had been Getz’s best friend at the time of the abuse.
The complaint details the depraved nature of the allegations and the horrific physical and sexual abuse endured by the victim for years in silence.
The complainant stated that she had been repeatedly raped orally, vaginally, and anally by both her uncle Greg Wagner and a co-defendant Brent Getz. She noted that it happened several times a week from approximately age four (4) through age eleven (11), ending shortly before the report in May 2012. The complainant stated that Wagner began his assaults when she was approximately four years old, and Wagner would come to her bedroom and take her to his bedroom. Wagner would touch the complainant’s vagina and had her perform oral sex on him. The complainant stated that at approximately age six, Wagner began having vaginal and anal sex with her as well as Getz becoming a participant in the rapes. Getz was a friend of Wagner’s who participated in the assaults when he was at Wagner‘s home. The rapes took place several times a month for approximately six years. Complainant stated that during the assaults, Wagner would have pornography on in his room.
The complaint also details the countless hurdles and setbacks the victim experienced before finally getting justice.
The victim was 11 when she first told a substitute teacher that her uncle was raping her. That teacher, in turn, contacted ChildLine, Children and Youth Services, Carbon County.
Children and Youth Services informed the Franklin Township police, who set up an interview for the girl with the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC).
The girl sat for a lengthy discussion with a forensic interviewer at CAC. According to the complaint, she said that her uncle would rub his groin on her genitals, offer her money for sex, and make her watch pornography.
She was then examined by a nurse, who later wrote: “Given her detailed disclosure of inappropriate sexual activity with this adult male occurring over the past several years, it is consistent with sexual abuse.”
That same nurse also noted: “Many of the symptoms that [redacted] experienced after this inappropriate touching is also consistent with inappropriate sexual contact and penetration of the vagina.”
The victim’s uncle Gregory Wagner (above in mugshot courtesy of Pennsylvania AG) agreed to a plea deal.
The Franklin Township Police Department interviewed the victim’s uncle in 2012, but when he asked for a lawyer, authorities did not interview him again for over a year. No charges were filed after an investigation, according to prosecutors.
According to the complaint, the two men continued to abuse the victim in the interim. Since no one believed her, she took a video at one point and sent it to another family member for safekeeping. She was just 11 at the time.
Then, in 2015, a complaint was dismissed by a district judge due to what the judge claimed was a paperwork error. Charges weren’t refiled after that error.
Things changed in 2018, however, when a member of the police force took an active interest in the investigation, and the victim, then 17, provided him with new details and that video she took six years prior.
By this time, Getz was the Weissport Chief of Police. A year later, an affidavit of probable cause was filed in the case charging both Getz and Wagner.
According to Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Wagner agreed to a deal that saw him enter a guilty plea to charges of rape of a child and sexual exploitation of children while also agreeing to testify against Getz at his trial.
Sentencing for both men will take place next week.
