Ex-police chief convicted of child rape gets 16 to 32 years

JIM THORPE, Pa. (AP) — A former Pennsylvania police chief convicted of rape of a child has been sentenced to 16 to 32 years in prison, state prosecutors said.

The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said the sentence was imposed Friday on 30-year-old Brent Getz following his conviction on rape and sexual abuse charges in a jury trial in Carbon County in March.

After his 2019 arrest, Getz was fired from his job as police chief in Weissport, a town of some 400 residents 77 miles (124 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.

A co-defendant who pleaded guilty to child rape in November 2020 and testified against Getz was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Authorities said both men were adolescents when the abuse began. The victim said she was abused hundreds of times over a period of seven years beginning when she was about 4 years old.

At his trial, Getz repeatedly denied that he had ever sexually assaulted the victim. Defense attorney Brian Collins sought a sentence in the mitigated range and a five-year minimum term, citing his client's age and record, the (Lehighton) Times-News Online reported.

Carbon County prosecutors referred the case to the state attorney general's office because Getz had been a police officer employed by a number of police departments in the county.

The attorney general's office said the defendants must register as sex offenders for the remainder of their lives.