The future of a 630-watt FM radio station atop Mt. Hunsrick, serving Somerset County, Pa., appeared to be a bit clearer as of Thursday morning, thanks to a two-page Termination Order released the day before (12/1) by the FCC‘s Administrative Law Judge.
It can now be confirmed that the decision by the ALJ, Jane Halprin, has been rescinded.
RBR+TVBR has learned that the station’s owner, convicted of a felony and multiple misdemeanors under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code and charged with voyeurism and soliciting men to establish rape of a female, indeed filed a written appearance in a Hearing Designation Order.
As such, the hearing will proceed.
And, this means that Roger Wahl‘s status in regard to his ability to continue running the station is back to “pending.”
Importantly, Halprin will now be leading a full inquiry into whether or not Wahl should be allowed to control the facility.
Her decision could very well lead to Wahl losing his license. But, until then, his ownership and involvement in WQZS-FM 93.3 in Meyersdale, Pa., to the southeast of Pittsburgh, can continue.
As RBR+TVBR reported in mid-October, a Hearing Designation Order was sent to Wahl’s attention, along with an Order to Show Cause and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing to Wahl. The goal: to determine whether Wahl is qualified to be and to remain a holder of WQZS’s license.
The Bureau’s action came in response to a Somerset County, Pa., judge’s decision in November 2020 to place Wahl on a three-year “restricted probation” for a series of lurid criminal sexual acts and voyeurism, which include rather salacious details. The ruling was believed by some to save Wahl from losing control of WQZS, or allow him to transfer control of the station to his daughter for a token price of $10.
It turns out that the restricted probation was enough for the FCC to act on. Under delegated authority, Halprin commenced a hearing proceeding to determine whether Wahl is qualified to remain a Commission licensee. Specifically, should the FCC revoke his license for WQZS?
To avail himself of the opportunity to be heard and the right to present evidence at the hearing, Wahl was directed by the Order to Show Cause to file a written appearance
within 20 days of the mailing of the order, stating that he would appear at the hearing and present evidence on the issues specified.
That order was released on October 19. A copy was mailed to Wahl by certified mail, return receipt requested, that same day. But, there was a problem. Due to an error in the address initially used, that never got to Wahl. The Media Bureau on Nov. 8 tried again, mailing another copy of the order to Wahl at the correct address of record for him. Based on that mailing date, Wahl’s written appearance was due by Monday (11/29).
According to Halprin, Wahl didn’t respond, nor did he submit a petition seeking dismissal of the Order to Show Cause or permission to file his appearance after the deadline.
However, RBR+TVBR learned late Thursday from a source close to the matter that the Commission indeed received materials from Wahl in November.
“Wahl did file an appearance with a filing that no one was aware of when the Termination Order was issued,” the source tells RBR+TVBR. “He did it incorrectly, but the ALJ is accepting the appearance and the hearing will proceed. In the meantime, his license remains in effect.”
A “Rescission of Termination Order” from the FCC further explains that Wahl “did indeed submit an appearance via certified mail on November 11, 2021 and attempted to file an ECFS submission on that same date.”
As such, Halprin’s decision is negated, ad the hearing proceeding is restored to pending. And, it could bring new importance to a Motion to Intervene filed by Wahl’s daughter, Wendy Sipple, on Monday.
At WQZS, Wahl was on the air Thursday morning, claiming he had lost his voice to laryngitis over the past couple of days. According to a local source, Sipple recorded the morning newscast. As of 1pm Eastern, WQZS was on the air, playing music.
Wahl’s troubles began on September 7, 2019, when he was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police on charges of rape solicitation, identity theft and invasion of privacy. Specifically, Wahl was accused of attempting to solicit men to engage in unwanted sexual acts with an unnamed woman who he later admitted he impersonated through the creation of a phony online dating profile. According to State Police, Wahl hid a trail camera inside the 62-year-old woman’s house several years ago. Images from the camera were allegedly accessed by Wahl and then used by him to lure men into her home, with Wahl making the arrangements.
To exacerbate matters, Wahl was also charged with tampering with physical evidence. As noted by Trooper John Wogan, pictures were deleted from Wahl’s phone as were text communication from the dating site, apparently after Wahl discovered State Police were investigating. And, as Wahl’s residence appears to be the same as that of WQZS, Wahl used a computer on the radio station’s premises to conduct the illicit online communications via the dating website, Wogan’s report stated.
On July 8, 2020, Wahl was scheduled to plead guilty to a felony. A day earlier, it became known that Wahl on June 1, 2020 filed a Form 314 form with the FCC seeking permission to transfer WQZS to Sipple, for $10. An FCC approval came. But, on July 13, 2020, the Commission reversed its approval of the license transfer, likely upon learning of Wahl’s legal predicament.
Wahl’s attorney, David Flower, went to action on behalf of his client. He lobbied for a lessening of the charges against the WQZS owner. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas acquiesced.
Fast-forward to September 2021. Thomas, 36, was accused of having attacked a woman in her home. He was charged with rape, indecent and simple assault, strangulation and criminal trespassing; Thomas’ hearing was scheduled for 1pm today (10/19).
With Thomas now mired in a rape controversy, the lesser charges against Wahl could be reexamined. For the Media Bureau, however, his convictions of a felony and multiple misdemeanors alone “raise the question under the Commission’s Character Qualifications Policy Statement whether he possesses the requisite character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee.”
