Central Pa. cop molested teen girl he met during suicide attempt call, state police charge

A former Waynesboro police officer sent sexually explicit messages to and then molested a 15-year-old girl he met when he answered a call about her attempted suicide, state police contend.

Some of that illicit contact occurred while William E. Sublett IV was supposed to be on duty, Trooper Erica Polcha said in an affidavit with Sublett’s arrest on charges including indecent assault, corruption of minors and aggravated indecent assault.

Polcha wrote that investigation of Sublett, 33, of Washington Township, began on Dec. 10 when the girl reported the alleged abuse to her guidance counselor at Waynesboro High School.

The girl said she met Sublett during the December 2019 suicide attempt call, that he had online sexual conversations with her, has asked for unclothed photos of her and had fondled her breasts and genitals against her will at his home this past November, the trooper wrote.

She said electronics seized from Sublett included a cell phone he bought for the girl but kept in his home for safekeeping.

An examination of that phone showed Sublett began asking for photos of the girl after she sent him an image of a sex toy this past November. Polcha said. She said Sublett’s messages to the teen included two that read, “You look amazing, you have no idea. Gosh,” and “You have no idea the things I could do to you.” He also asked whether there was “any chance of ever get (sic) to see that body in person,” the affidavit states.

He apologized when the girl refused his request to see compromising photos of her, Polcha wrote. In later more explicit messages, Sublett spoke of having sexual contact with the girl and how it would occur,” the trooper said. She said security camera footage from the victim’s home showed Sublett at the residence when he was scheduled to be on duty.

During a Dec. 10 interview with troopers, Sublett said he was a “role model figure” for the teen and had been checking in on her periodically at the request of her mother, Polcha wrote. She said Sublett denied texting the teen or buying her a phone and “immediately terminated the interview” when asked about the girl’s sex abuse allegations.

Sublett was placed on administrative leave from the Waynesboro force on Dec. 10 and resigned on Jan. 5.

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