Alleged child rapist headed to trial
SLIPPERY ROCK — A Brady Township man, accused of raping a juvenile girl, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
William H. Hess Jr., 34, appeared before District Judge Joseph Nash. Hess had been brought from Butler County Prison, where he remains without bond.
He is charged with five felonies and one misdemeanor, with the most serious charges being those of rape and strangulation, all toward a juvenile girl.
Waiving his hearing, Hess next will appear for formal arraignment in Butler County Common Pleas court.
Hess spent time on the most-wanted suspects list of the state police’s Butler barracks. He was arrested March 1 in Missouri.
State police filed the latest charges Jan. 27 after speaking with the girl about the alleged rape Nov. 26.
Police said Hess forced himself on the girl and raped her, and while she struggled against him, he choked her.
Court records shows Hess has a history of abuse toward children. Hess spent time in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2012, which acknowledged guilt in the 2011 death of his then-girlfriend’s baby.
