Waynesburg man charged with raping county employee
Woman was helping accused with housing information
A Waynesburg man is charged with sexually assaulting a Greene County Department of Human Services employee at their offices in Waynesburg on Wednesday morning.
Timothy Hilverding, 36, was taken into custody by a probation officer shortly after fleeing the conference room in the Fort Jackson building on Washington Street where the incident allegedly took place, according to the complaint.
The alleged victim told police Hilverding had walked into the department’s housing services program and asked to speak to someone around 11 a.m. She took Hilverding into a conference room, where he began behaving lewdly, the complaint said. When she informed him he needed to go to mental health services, he refused and blocked her exit, police said.
Hilverding then threw her to the ground and pulled down her pants, the complaint said. The employee fought him off, police said. A co-worker in an adjacent room heard the noise and intervened, causing Hilverding to flee, according to court paperwork.
A probation officer who recognized Hilverding as a client in the probation office took him into custody, police said.
County officials met with DHS Thursday morning to discuss the situation and look at ways to make the building more secure. Those security needs are being balanced with the need to make the building available to the public, said Commissioner Jared Edgreen.
“We see evil in the world, and we can have and we can make every step we want to but unfortunately, these things happen, and we have to find a way to overcome and make our places as safe as possible,” he said.
About 50 county employees work in the Fort Jackson building, including DHS, Children and Youth Services and the county’s probation department, said Jeff Marshall, the county’s clerk and administrator.
As standard practice, people entering the Fort Jackson building have to walk through a scanner and have their belongings X-rayed by a security officer at the door, said Edgreen. There are other roving security patrols in the building throughout the day, he said.
Hilverding had been a client of DHS, though Edgreen said he can’t speak more specifically about that until the county’s investigation is complete.
Marshall said the county has an assistance program available for employees, while other crisis organizations are also available for them to consult locally.
Edgreen said his heart goes out to the affected family and the staff who intervened.
“(Wednesday), there were a couple of heroes, truly heroes, that intervened, and so I’m thankful for their intervention, and we are just deeply saddened that this happened,” he said.
A Waynesburg Police Department officer reached at the department Thursday deferred comment to Police Chief Billy Nichols, who he said was unavailable until Sunday.
Hilverding faces felony charges of rape, aggravated assault and sexual assault, along with misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, simple assault, open lewdness, disorderly conduct and false imprisonment.
He was lodged in the Greene County Jail without bond, on the basis that no combinations of conditions will guarantee he obeys conditions of bail and protect the public’s safety, according to the complaint.
Court records show Hilverding is serving two years of probation on a 2023 sentence for criminal trespassing. His most recent court appearance was a probation violation hearing on Monday, where he was given credit for time served and released the next day.