WAYNESBORO, Pa. — A former Waynesboro Police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a juvenile girl in November 2020, according to the Franklin County District Attorney's Office.
William Everett Sublett IV, 33, of Honodel Road, was charged with Aggravated Indecent Assault, Indecent Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor and Corruption of Minors on Tuesday following an investigation of the allegations disclosed by the victim who reported the alleged sexual assault to her high school guidance counselor on Dec. 10, 2020.
The victim, now 16, was 15 at the time of the alleged sexual contact, according to police.
The guidance counselor in turn reported the alleged unwanted sexual contact to the school's resource officer, who contacted State Police.
Sublett was placed on administrative leave by the Waynesboro Police Department on the night of Dec. 10 and subsequently resigned on Jan. 5 of this year, according to the Franklin County DA's office.
Over the course of the investigation, State Police learned the girl met Sublett in December 2019 when Sublett answered a call at the girl's home.
The girl told investigators that Sublett would occasionally stop by her home in the months since to check on her.
Sometime in November 2020, the girl reported, Sublett took her to his home and fondled her breasts and genitals. The girl said she did not want this contact and told Sublett to stop, but he allegedly refused. He did stop when the girl pushed him off of her, the victim told police.
Investigators seized several cell phones and a laptop from Sublett and the girl and obtained warrants to perform forensic examinations on all of the devices, according to the criminal complaint filed against Sublett.
One of the phones seized belonged to the girl, but was in Sublett's possession for "safekeeping," investigators say. A forensic examination of the phone revealed the victim and Sublett had numerous text messages between Nov. 6 and Nov. 9, 2020.
The victim allegedly sent Sublett several photos of herself and provided him with her login and password for the Snapchat app, so that he could view other photos of her as well, police say.
Sublett allegedly sent the girl multiple texts asking her to send him nude images of herself. Sublett allegedly promised to buy the girl goods including a "burner" phone and nicotine vape products in exchange, according to police.
Several other text messages indicated Sublett's intention to have sexual contact with the victim, according to police.
Several of the messages were sent while Sublett was on-duty as a police officer, according to investigators. He was on-duty on the day he is seen delivering a phone to the victim's house on the home's home surveillance cameras, investigators say.
In an interview with investigators on Dec. 10, 2020, Sublett allegedly confirmed he had known the girl for about a year after responding to a call at her home in 2019. He allegedly told investigators he was a "role model" for the girl, and had visited her numerous times to check on her at her mother's request.
Sublett allegedly denied having any contact with the girl through text messages or buying her a cell phone or any other goods.
When he learned of the nature of the allegations, Sublett immediately terminated the interview, according to police.
Any time a person is victimized in our community, we in law enforcement thoroughly and objectively investigate the allegation," the Franklin County DA's Office said in a press release announcing the charges. "Remember that law enforcement officers are human beings equipped with the usual repertoire of emotions, and show appropriate and innate empathy for our victims of any reported crimes.
"For most of us, whether a law enforcement officer or prosecutor, protecting our neighbors and seeking justice for victims is why we chose this career. When the reported crime is sexual in nature, we cannot help but recognize the special implication on the victim’s psychological well-being, and even especially so when that victim of a sexual crime is a child in our community.
'Because many of us are fathers or mothers ourselves, there is of course a heightened sense of responsibility and caring. But where, as here, the person that sexually preys on our child victim turns out to be a fellow law enforcement officer, we are extraordinarily angered.
'While the allegation in this matter was of course investigated professionally and objectively, as humans and made with flesh and bone like the rest of you, we are nonetheless instinctively and uniquely angry above all else."
