William Hess

A Brady Township man, who was previously found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in relation to an 11-month-old child’s death, was sentenced Thursday, March 7, for raping a juvenile girl.

William H. Hess, 37, was sentenced to serve 2½ to 11 years in state prison after pleading guilty to felony rape and a second felony sexual assault charge filed by state police following the Nov. 26, 2021, incident in Brady Township.

Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy McCune also ordered Hess to abide by Megan’s Law requirements to report to state police for the rest of his life as a sexual offender.

This was not Hess’ first time being accused of abusing a child. In 2011, he was charged with homicide in Lawrence County after his then-girlfriend’s 11-month-old child died.

News reports from that incident include information from the autopsy report that showed the baby had a broken right wrist and a broken left ankle, as well as severe bruising over most of her body. According to the report, the death was ruled a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head.

In that case, Hess pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 to 8 years in prison.

On Thursday, Hess didn’t speak before he was sentenced. He attended the hearing remotely from the county prison, where he is being held without bail.

He was initially charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, strangulation and another sexual assault charge — all felonies — in relation to the 2021 incident.

Hess was alone with the juvenile girl when the rape occurred, according to court documents.

Police said Hess approached the girl and told her he was sexually attracted to her and began groping her before raping her.

“She made several attempts to get him off her with negative results,” police said. “During those attempts to get Hess off her, he held her down by placing his hands around her neck and mouth.”

The girl told police that while being choked, she struggled to breathe, and Hess made further remarks after he stopped.

“He asked (her) if she was on birth control and told her that she couldn’t tell anyone what happened,” police said.