Ex-Weissport chief faces victim

A former police chief accused of repeatedly raping a child when he was a teenager faced his alleged victim in court on Thursday.

The now 19-year-old victim took the stand during a hearing for Brent Getz, the former chief of police in Weissport who faces rape charges.

She testified that Getz, now 27, raped her many times over a 3-year period starting when she was 6 years old. At the time Getz was approximately 14-17.

The alleged incidents occurred at the house where she lived with family members, including Gregory Wagner, who was also charged. Getz was friends with Wagner and often slept over at the house.

She said Wagner was always present when the assaults occurred and also participated. She said Wagner also repeatedly raped her by himself starting when she was 4 years old.

In March, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office arrested both men and charged them with rape of a child and related offenses. They have both pleaded not guilty.

They are facing a joint trial in Carbon County Court. Getz’s defense attorney, Brian Collins, has asked the court to hold separate trials and bring in jurors from another county because of the large amount of press and TV news coverage given to the case.

“That’s no disrespect to the citizens of Carbon County. I’ve tried many cases here; they’re excellent jurors. The fact that he’s a police chief, the nature of the allegations, and the coverage that he got, it can’t be fair. It’s just indelible,” he said.

During Thursday’s hearing, Collins questioned the victim for about 15 minutes regarding the assaults, when she reported them, and to whom she reported them.

She said Wagner raped her many times and Getz was present and participated in about half of the incidents. She said Wagner would tell her to come into the room before the assaults. She said other relatives were sometimes in the house when it occurred.

While she testified, Getz remained silent and at times shook his head back and forth.

The girl said that when she was 4 years old, she told her parents that Wagner raped her, but nothing was reported.

When she was 12, she told a substitute teacher at Lehighton Area Middle School, who in turn contacted authorities. She said she decided to tell her teacher because Wagner had offered her money to have sex with her and she was scared to go home. She said she told the authorities that Wagner raped her, but she did not mention Getz.

When Collins asked why she didn’t accuse Getz of rape at that time, she said it was because a therapist at the Victim’s Resource Center told her that it could hurt the case against Wagner.

She said that after telling the therapist, she shared it with her mother, but told no one else.

She said a police officer, who she identified as “Officer Lorah” investigated the case and spoke to her mother.

Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Elo asked her if her family supported her after she accused Wagner and Getz of rape, and she said that they did not. But she said she was forced to continue living in the house until she turned 18 because she had nowhere else to go.

She said she no longer lives with her mother.

In 2018, Franklin Township Police officer Frank Buonaiuto contacted her, saying the department wanted to reopen the case. She said she was surprised because she thought the investigation had ended.

The Carbon County District Attorney’s office referred the case to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

One of the agents who arrested Getz testified about an initial interview that day. Special Agent Daniel Block of the Child Predator Section said he told Getz that Wagner had been arrested. Block said Getz responded by exhaling deeply, putting his head in his hands, and repeatedly saying, “I’m going to jail.”

Block said that before the interview, Getz signed a form stating he was aware of his right to remain silent or have an attorney present.

At Thursday’s hearing, Collins also presented evidence to support his motion that Getz should be tried separately from Wagner, and with jurors from outside Carbon County.

Collins presented dozens of print, online and TV news stories from Carbon County, the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania. He said the large volume of coverage demonstrates that jurors from Carbon County would be biased against Getz.

Collins subpoenaed the editor of the Times News and the news director of Blue Ridge Cable TV 13 to testify about coverage of the case. He asked them questions about the number of people who would be able to view their stories.

Collins also presented testimony to support a motion to suppress parts of Wagner’s taped 3.5-hour confession to police, should the men face a joint trial. He said that the recording includes unproven allegations by Wagner about Getz’s actions, as well as statements by Wagner about his sexual attraction to children. He said the allegations against Wagner are “horrendous” and would bias a jury against Getz.

Collins asked the judge to allow sections where Wagner described Getz’s actions to be removed from the audio of Wagner’s confession.

Elo said during the hearing that she would support redacting Getz’s name, but said that Collins was proposing to manipulate the evidence.

Judge Joseph J. Matika said he would give both sides the opportunity to present legal briefs in the case before making a decision on the motions.

Getz remains out on $100,000 bail. Wagner is currently jailed at Carbon County Correctional Facility on $250,000 bail.