Strasburg man waives preliminary hearing in child rape case

Strasburg, PA – Brent Matthew Groff, a 25-year-old resident of Strasburg, has waived his preliminary hearing on charges of multiple counts of sexual assault against a minor, with his case now set to proceed to Lancaster County Court.

Groff, who lives on the first block of Denlinger Avenue, faced Judge William Benner last Wednesday, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing on 15 felony and misdemeanor charges. The charges include rape of a child, incest of a minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, among others.

The accusations detail a harrowing period of abuse where Groff is alleged to have sexually assaulted a juvenile girl multiple times from approximately 2015 until October 2023. The victim, now 17, informed police that the abuse started when she was about 8 years old at a shared residence in the 100 block of Charleston in Pequea Township. At the time the assaults began, Groff would have been around 16 years old.

Initially, Groff denied the allegations when questioned by investigators. However, he later contacted the police to confess that many of the accusations made by the victim were true.

Currently, Groff is being held at Lancaster County Prison with bail set at $300,000. The waiving of the preliminary hearing means that the case will move directly to the trial phase in county court without further preliminary evaluation of evidence.

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