Ex-Pennsylvania Police Chief Gets 32 Years In 'Horrific' Child Rape Case

A former Pennsylvania police chief was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison for sexually abusing his friend’s pre-pubescent niece multiple times over several years.

Brent Getz, 30, was sentenced 16 to 32 years behind bars for his role in the serial sexual assaults of a young girl, who reported both the ex-cop and her uncle for sexually abusing her hundreds of times over the course of seven years, starting when she was just 4 years old.

“This sentencing ensures that Getz is held accountable for his horrific actions and that his victim receives long-awaited justice,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement on Monday.

Getz was convicted of child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and indecent assault of a child under 12 following a jury trial in March. He was originally arrested in 2019.

Getz's sentence also includes three years of supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. 

His co-defendant and friend, Gregory E. Wagner Jr., pleaded guilty to child rape in November 2020. Wagner — who was sentenced to 10-20 years for his role in the child’s serial rape — cooperated with investigators in Getz’s prosecution.

Wagner is the victim’s uncle.

The alleged rapes and other sexual assaults occurred over the period of seven years, starting around 2005, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com. The child did not report the assaults to trusted adults until she was in the fifth grade.

Carbon County child services first received a report from the 11-year-old child in May 2012, when she accused Wagner of sexually assaulting her when “left alone” with him. The fifth grader had reported the sexual abuse to her substitute teacher, who then tipped off child services.  

During a forensic interview, the little girl told police that Wagner had molested her, masturbated in her presence, showed her pornography and forced her to perform oral sex on him. She said the sexual abuse began when she was four. 

The victim also told investigators that, when she turned six, Getz began participating in the sexual assaults perpetrated by her uncle. She was raped several times a month by the pair of men for six years, she explained.

Wagner was questioned by the Franklin Township Police Department in 2012 and again in 2013, but denied his niece’s allegations. And, for years, no charges were brought against Wagner or Getz, despite the child's report.

In 2018, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office took over the investigation. 

According to charging documents, the child at one point filmed Wagner on her phone while he was showing her hardcore pornography. She shared the video with a relative, who provided it to state investigators.

Wagner was taken into police custody after a warrant was executed on his residence. 

Authorities seized multiple mobile devices belonging to Wagner, and said he’d conducted Google searches on his cell phone using search terms that were “indicative of child pornography.” 

Following Wagner’s arrest, he confessed to having sexual contact with his niece on at least three occasions. He also accused Getz in a series of sexual assaults on his young niece — including one instance in which he said Getz raped the little girl both orally and anally while Wagner played video games in the same room.

Getz is the former police chief of Weissburg, Pennsylvania, a small town of approximately 400 people located about 77 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Brian J. Collins, Getz’s defense counsel, didn't respond to Oxygen.com’s requests for comment regarding his client’s sentencing on Monday morning.