CLEARFIELD – A DuBois man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a young girl.
William Clarence Boganwright, 39, was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to serve two to four years in state prison with three years consecutive probation for felony aggravated indecent assault person less than 13 years old and misdemeanor indecent assault.
The charges stem from an incident at Parker Dam in August 2023 when the victim and Boganwright were camping.
Boganwright must complete sex offender counseling, have no contact with the victim and have no unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 18.
Although he did not meet the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator, he must still register with authorities and comply with the conditions under Megan’s Law.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, in Nov. 2023 the girl reported to her teacher and then DuBois City Police that Boganwright had touched her inappropriately while camping. It was later determined that this occurred in the jurisdiction of the state police in DuBois who took over the investigation.
The victim told police that it happened in July or August of that year. She said she asked Boganwright if her body type was attractive. He didn’t answer in front of a young male who was with them, but after the boy couldn’t hear, Boganwright responded, “The answer to your question is yes.”
Later she was in a big tent with Boganwright while the boy was in a smaller, military type tent by himself.
She related that she asked him if he would massage her feet, legs and back. He started at her feet and moved up her legs to her inner thighs. Then he touched her private area and penetrated her with his finger.
“It was dark but I could hear him beating his head with his hand saying ‘F— I shouldn’t have done that,’” it says in the criminal complaint.
In his interview with investigators, Boganwright agreed to talk without an attorney. He said they were camping within a week of school starting. The kids were asked friends to join them on a two-day camping trip, but no one did.
He explained the kids went swimming while he fished and then they went hiking. When they got back to the camp site, the girl complained about her legs hurting and asked for a massage. She went into the big tent while the boy stayed in a pup tent.
As he massaged her leg, he said his arm twitched and his left hand “went somewhere it was never intended to go.” He yanked his hand away and said he was sorry. “And it’s been eating at him ever since,” the trooper noted.
“Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to do that, but it happened,” he told police.
During another interview, the investigator told him that a spasm would not cause his hand to do what the girl said it did. Eventually Boganwright admitted to touching her more intimate area and that it was not the result of an involuntary spasm.
