CLEARFIELD – A local man is being accused of sexually abusing two young girls for several years while he was staying at a Clearfield residence.
Willie R. Hockenberry, 65, of Philipsburg is charged by Clearfield Borough police with felony rape of child, statutory sexual assault-11 years older, aggravated indecent assault without consent and aggravated indecent assault-complainant less than 13years old.
He’s also charged with six felony counts each of indecent assault-person less than 13 years, child endangerment and corruption of minors, plus two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure.
Hockenberry waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court. He’s being held in county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the office of Magisterial District Judge Mike Morris, on April 12, the investigation began after the victims’ mother contacted police.
Recently, she said her 14-year-old daughter revealed that Hockenberry had sexually abused her, beginning in 2013 when she was approximately 6 or 7 years old and lasting until 2019.
She said she had limited information because the victim didn’t want to discuss it any further with her. So, a ChildLine report was made and a referral sent to the Child Advocacy Center of Clearfield County.
In a CAC-CC interview April 13, the victim detailed three specific incidents, indicating some occurred more than once and that she wasn’t certain of an exact timeframe.
She said Hockenberry began inappropriately touching her when she was 7 years old and over time, the abuse allegedly escalated to sexual intercourse, which scared her. She said the abuse ended when she was 12 or 13 years old.
On April 26, a second victim – who is now 11 years old – detailed how she was abused by Hockenberry, beginning when she was 5 years old. She described two incidents where he allegedly inappropriately touched her, but stated this occurred more often.
On April 30, police contacted Hockenberry to schedule an interview, and he asked why they wanted to speak with him. When he was advised it was over a report filed with Children & Youth Services, he commented: “I didn’t do any of that.”
Then, when police asked what he meant by that statement, Hockenberry replied, asking “wait, what did the report say?” He agreed to be interviewed May 5 at the Clearfield Borough police station.
He claimed he was never alone with the victims, and that he always watched all the children at the same time. He denied any inappropriate conduct and specifically stated he never touched the victims.
However, during the interview, Hockenberry reportedly appeared very nervous and deflected questions. Any time he was asked about the victims, he quickly answered “no,” police said.
He also made counter accusations as well as said that another male was occasionally around the home. He was only able to provide a first name for the male, according to the affidavit.
When questioned about a previous statutory rape case filed against him in 1981, Hockenberry claimed it was a “misunderstanding” and that he was only charged with indecent exposure.
Police reviewed the original affidavit filed by Pennsylvania State Police, and learned Hockenberry and another male relative were accused of having forced a 12-year-old girl and her sister to have sex with them.
It was also learned the abuse had occurred for approximately one year, and because police caught Hockenberry in a lie concerning his criminal history and found his behavior deceptive, they requested that he submit to a polygraph.
Hockenberry said he had a friend who found polygraph tests to be inaccurate, and so he’d have to “think about it.”