A man serving a life sentence at a state prison in Schuylkill County is charged with sexually assaulting a fellow inmate.
William “Teenie” Black, 47, is charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony, and indecent assault, a second-degree misdemeanor. The charges stem from an alleged assault at State Correctional Institution-Mahanoy on Feb. 23, 2024.
Prison staff at SCI-Mahanoy notified State Police that morning that another inmate had reported he was raped by Black in his cell. The inmate was taken to Reading Hospital, where a sexual assault kit was completed that night.
The inmate told police four days later that Black had been demanding cigarettes from him and said he needed to repay what he owed through sexual favors, according to police. Black entered his cell, covered the windows on the cell door and sexually assaulted him, police say. The inmate told police he did not try to escape or call for help, saying he “kind of just let it happen” to avoid a confrontation.
Black was transferred to SCI-Frackville following the incident, according to police.
A DNA profile obtained from the sexual assault kit was uploaded into a national database and identified Black as a possible match, State Police said. Troopers obtained a search warrant for a DNA sample from Black in November 2025. A lab comparison completed earlier this year confirmed the DNA matched Black, according to State Police.
When questioned by troopers in November 2025, Black denied ever having sex with the inmate, saying the two were not friends or romantic partners and that he could not explain how his DNA was found on the other inmate, according to police.
Black is scheduled for a preliminary arraignment Tuesday before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27.
Black was convicted in 2011 of second-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of a Brownsville man in Fayette County and began serving a life sentence in that case, according to news reports at the time.
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