Seven Ellis County Firefighters & Woman Indicted In Sex Assault Case
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WAXAHACHIE (CBSDFW) - An Ellis County Grand Jury has now indicted seven volunteer firefighters and a woman in a case that made headlines this spring.
Five of the firefighters at the Emergency Services District 6 and one of their girlfriends are charged with aggravated sexual assault and attempted aggravated sexual assault charges.
They're identified as:
27-year-old Keith Wisakowsky of Waxahachie
30-year-old Casey Stafford of Waxahachie
19-year-old Blake Tucker of Midlothian
28-year-old Alec Miller of Waxahachie
19-year-old Preston Peyrot of Waxahachie
23-year-old Brittany Parten of Waxahachie
The six are accused of holding the man down, while assaulting him with a broomstick first, then a chorizo sausage.
At first, Parten was accused of improper photography because authorities say she videotaped the incident on her cell phone.
But the grand jury charged her with the same crime as the five firefighters.
They will have to be booked in jail in the next few days because they are also charged with attempted aggravated sex assault charges as well.
The department's chief, Gavin Satterfield and former chief William Getzendaner III are facing charges of tampering with a witness after they were accused of trying to cover it up.
All seven firefighters have now been removed from the department.
News of the indictments still shocks residents like Greg Tate who rely on their department.
"Very disappointing. I hope it doesn't reflect on the community because there are a lot of good people."
Tate is a former volunteer firefighter at a different department many years ago, and says he never heard of such a thing.
He called it a "Very bad prank. You know, they're serving the community, so I don't see how that prank would help initiate anyone to be a better fireman."
The new chief at Emergency Services District 6 is Wes Curry, who's continuing his role as chief of the Forreston Volunteer Fire Department.
Curry says he's hired six new volunteer firefighters and that's he made it clear to everyone that hazing incidents won't be tolerated. He also says he's told the firefighters they can file a complaint against him or anyone without the fear of retribution.
That's reassuring to residents like Greg Tate. "I'm pretty sure they got the right handle on it, and got it going in the right direction where that won't happen again."
Attorneys for the eight defendants have either declined comment or haven't returned my calls.
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