At an emergency meeting Thursday night, board members who oversee the Ellis County Emergency Services District No. 6 Volunteer Fire Department voted unanimously to suspend the fire chief and assistant fire chief from duty.
The meeting was called after Fire Chief Gavin Satterfield, 31, and Assistant Fire Chief William Getzendaner, 34, were arrested after being implicated in a recorded sexual assault that took place in a fire station earlier this year.
They face charges of tampering with a witness — a first degree felony.
“We are very, very saddened by the fact that people that we have relied, this board has relied on, the people of this county and this district have relied on have been accused of something so heinous as what has happened,” said Clay Hinds, an attorney who represents the ESD board.
In addition to the suspensions, board members voted to ask the Ellis County Fire Marshal to step in and help determine how to best handle the department moving forward.
A man — whose identity was not released because he is a sexual assault victim — filed a complaint March 31 stating that on Jan. 20 five fellow firefighters held him down at the Emergency Service District No. 6 fire station, pulled his pants down and, while laughing and yelling, sexually assaulted him multiple times chorizo and a broom stick.
• WARNING: Graphic Account of Firefighter's Sexual Assault
Earlier this week, 26-year-old Keith Wisakowsky, 30-year-old Casey Stafford, 19-year-old Preston Peyrot, 28-year-old Alec Miller and 19-year-old Blake Tucker were arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault in connection with the incident.
Bottom row, left-right: Preston Peyrot, Brittany Leanne Parten and Keith Wisakowsky.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Satterfield and Getzendaner held a closed-door meeting with the victim and his fellow firefighters. In the meeting, Getzendaner admitted to having seen the recording of the assault and, in more colorful language, said it was funny but that they shouldn't have done it. (Read the arrest warrant below.)
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• WARNING: Fire Chief, Asst. Chief Arrest Warrant & Graphic Account of Sexual Assault
Getzendaner then, according to the victim's testimony in the affidavit, informed the firefighters that the victim could take action against them. He then looked at the victim and said, "But you're not going to."
Getzendaner then told the firefighters the incident could be a sexual assault and that they should "keep the knowledge of the sexual assault in-house, delete the video and keep their mouths shut" or face the legal consequences.
The victim realized at that point that no disciplinary action would be taken by the chief or assistant chief.
Satterfield's attorney says the affidavit correctly states that Satterfield did not participate in any manner with the assault that is alleged to have occurred at ESD#6.
"Further, you cannot find any factual allegations contained within the arrest affidavit that would legally support the arrest of my client for any other crime. I would encourage anyone interested to read the affidavit for themselves," said attorney Joseph R. Gallo. "When criminal cases become high profile, innocent people are often wrongfully caught up in the process. I now look forward to working with the Ellis County District Attorney’s Office to clear his name."
A sixth person, 23-year-old Brittany Leanne Parten, recorded the incident and was arrested for improper photography, according to Haschel.
The arrests of Satterfield and Getzendaner bring the total number of arrests in the case to eight.
No additional information in the investigation has been released.
At a meeting scheduled for Monday, board members are expected to entertain the idea that the best course of action may be to temporarily shut down the entire volunteer fire department for the foreseeable future.
“We aren’t ruling anything out,” Hinds said Thursday.
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NBC 5's Ben Russell, Ellen Bryan, Jocelyn Lockwood and Todd L. Davis contributed to this report.
