A former Waynesboro police officer accused of sexually abusing a teenager last year is in Franklin County Jail today after being arraigned Tuesday night.
William Everett Sublett IV, 33, of Waynesboro, faces charges of Aggravated Indecent Assault, Indecent Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor and Corruption of Minors.
Pennsylvania State Police allege in charging documents that he assaulted the girl last December after grooming her the entire year following her suicide attempt last in 2019.
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The crime, as described in charging documents
The alleged incidents took place in his Washington Township home, police said in an affidavit filed with the charges.
The victim was 15 years old when Sublett began seducing and manipulating her, police said. After the girl turned 16, he began making sexual requests, and promising gifts, including purchasing and providing her with a cell phone.
She was 16 when the alleged sexual assault took place in early December, according to the court document. Sublett was 33.
The girl talked to a school counselor about it on Dec. 10, and school authorities notified police. Police seized multiple phones and a laptop computer from both Sublett and the victim during the ensuing two-month investigation,
One of the phones belonged to the victim but was in Sublett’s possession for safekeeping,
Investigators searched the electronic devices and downloaded related content after obtaining a search warrant. That content produced sexually explicit messages between Sublett and the victim. The content will be used as evidence in prosecution of the case.
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WPD connection
Sublett was a patrolman with the Waynesboro Police Department at the time. He was immediately put on administrative leave when Waynesboro Area School District reported the incident. He resigned January 5.
The Franklin County D.A.’s Office Bureau of Detectives partnered with the Pennsylvania State Police in the investigation.
Sublett is in Franklin County Jail today, unable to post $150,000 bail set by Magisterial District Judge Davis Plum. A preliminary hearing in the case takes place next Wednesday, Feb. 17, in Franklin County’s Magisterial District Central Court.
