William Buchanan, Springfield man, sentenced in sex abuse case

A former agriculture department official was sentenced Wednesday to 150 days in jail sexually abusing a staffer.

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William Buchanan pled guilty in March 2011 before the D.C. Superior Court.

The 60-year-old is the former Director of Civil Rights and Community Outreach in the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency manages the federal crop insurance program, among other things. One of the tasks of the Civil Rights and Community Outreach office is ensuring equal opportunity employment, according to its website.

At his March hearing, Buchanan admitted that he sexually assaulted a USDA employee on multiple occasions between January 2010 and January 2011 while he was her immediate supervisor. Specifically, he admitted that he frequently “patted” the victim’s buttocks as she walked by him in their office at the USDA.

Buchanan previously admitted a series of incidents in a signed statement, including one case in which he approached the victim at her desk and put his hand down her shirt, fondling her. He admitted that the victim never consented to his actions, and that she repeatedly asked him to stop touching her inappropriately.

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