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In 1999, police investigated former Lancaster police officer Selby for sexual harassment, but the former prosecutor did not file charges | Local News

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Around November 1999, the Lancaster City Police Department began investigating the sexual assault of two underage women.

The suspect? One of them: Officer Andrew Scott Selby, about 30 years old and with the police for five years.

“(The investigation) was referred to the district attorney’s office and no charges were filed at that time. He then resigned (in August 2000). And that was pretty much the end of it,” Lancaster Police Chief Richard Mendez said Thursday.

However, it did not end.

On May 17, police charged Selby with raping or sexually assaulting three people. The three people were girls at the time of the assaults. Selby was a police officer at the time. The charges were filed under seal in the hopes that more people would come forward and perhaps reveal a pattern of behavior in Selby, authorities said.

The current investigation began when one of the three women came forward and spoke with Detective Sgt. Jessica Higgins, according to court documents. Mendez said he could not comment on why the woman came to police so many years after the alleged crime.

After Selby’s arrest, five other people came forward and said Selby had sexually abused them. On May 30, police filed charges on behalf of only two of them, as possible charges against the others had already expired.

Additional rape allegations against former Lancaster police officer who allegedly sexually assaulted girls in the 1990s

Mendez said he did not know why prosecutors decided not to prosecute Selby at the time.

The documents released Thursday, which relate to the first indictment filed on May 17, shed little light on the decades-old investigation, mentioning only that Higgins learned of an investigation in November 1999 when she began investigating Selby earlier this year.

The documents do not indicate when city police, who first investigated Selby, referred her case to the district attorney’s office. Joseph Madenspacher was district attorney in 1999 but resigned after running for and winning a seat on Lancaster County Circuit Court. He was sworn in as a judge in January 2000.

He said he could not recall the matter being raised in the office during his tenure.

“I will never forget that,” said Madenspacher.

Madenspacher’s successor as district attorney was Donald Totaro. A reliable phone number for Totaro could not be found on Thursday; he had previously not responded to attempts to reach him for another article, including by certified mail.

Michael Landis, who was police chief in 1999, said he could not remember all the details but knew there were several investigations into alleged misconduct by Selby during his time as police chief.

Still, he said he was somewhat surprised that Selby was charged with sexual assault when he was arrested last month.

Landis left the department in late 1999 to become chief investigator for Lancaster County.

Judge seals records of former Lancaster police officer accused of sexual abuse in anticipation of more victims

Heather Adams, the current district attorney, did not respond to attempts to reach her Thursday evening.

Selby, 54, whose preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon, is being held without bail in the Lancaster County Jail.

One of Selby’s lawyers, Edwin Pfursich, declined to comment Thursday.

Unsealed documents

While police had already provided some information on the first three charges at the time of Selby’s arrest, the now unsealed documents provide further details.

In one case, Selby is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl whose previous rape he was assigned to investigate. According to charging documents, shortly after the first rape, Selby was out with the girl and her mother at an all-ages club. The mother left and Selby took the girl to his home to smoke marijuana, and she was in an altered state.

He began to kiss and massage her, led her to a bed, laid her face down and finally took off her clothes.

“The victim reported being paralyzed and in a state of shock and disbelief,” the charging documents state.

According to the charging documents, Selby then raped her.

In the second case, a woman told Higgins in March of this year that she had sex with Selby several times when she was 11 or 12 years old, including at a police station in the city’s southeast, according to charging documents. The documents say Selby gave her marijuana, cigarettes and, on more than one occasion, money.

In the third case, the woman, who was under 13 at the time, said Selby came to her apartment and asked her mother if he could ask her a few questions. He then took her to a private area of ​​the complex where he removed his duty belt, tried to pull down her pants and raped her.

“The victim told Selby she was going to scream and Selby eventually let her go,” charging documents say.

The YWCA Lancaster operates a 24/7 Sexual Assault Hotline at 717-392-7273. It connects callers to free, confidential counseling and therapy services for community members experiencing sexual abuse, harassment or assault.

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