Cheswick man who pleaded guilty in 2020 to breaking infant’s legs arrested in FBI child sex sting
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A Cheswick man who pleaded guilty in 2020 to assaulting an infant by breaking both of her legs and causing injuries to her face is accused of sending sexually explicit messages, photos and a video to an undercover agent pretending to be a 14-year-old girl on a social media site.
Joshua Lee Sandusky, 27, of the 1300 block of Beech Street was arrested Thursday on six counts of unlawful contact with a minor along with counts of criminal solicitation and criminal use of a communications facility, which are all felonies.
Sandusky is being detained in the Allegheny County Jail without bail while awaiting a preliminary hearing before District Judge David Sosovicka on March 13, according to court records.
Allegheny County police detectives assigned to the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force launched an online investigation in late June by setting up accounts on a social media site that allows users to tap a person’s photo to view their profile, chat, send photos and share their location, according to a criminal complaint.
On July 9, a user with the name “Josh@Sexyfireman” made contact with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl, the complaint said.
During the online conversation, the man sent several photos of his face to the girl and asked for her telephone number, which was provided, the complaint said.
Agents said they were able to identify and track down Sandusky after he sent a text message to the number.
A search warrant was issued to obtain his name and address from the cellphone carrier, and the information was used to match the photo on Sandusky’s driver’s license to the ones sent to the agents, the complaint said.
Investigators said Sandusky sent a series of sexually explicit messages during the first online meeting with the agents and then asked her to delete them so they wouldn’t be discovered by her mother.
Agents said Sandusky asked the girl for proof that the texts were deleted, saying: “Just making sure she’ll kill u (sic) and I’ll be dead or in jail.”
Sandusky also asked the girl to go on a “secret date” and acknowledged their age difference, but told her that he really liked her, the complaint said.
Two days after their initial meeting, Sandusky contacted the girl and sent her a series of nude photos of himself, according to the complaint.
Investigators said he sent the girl more nude photos on July 27 and 30 and asked her to send him photos of her naked body. On July 31, he sent the girl a sexually explicit video of himself, the complaint said.
Sandusky continued to send the girl sexually explicit messages and nude pictures of himself until early October, the complaint said.
Agents executed a search warrant Jan. 31 at Sandusky’s home and seized several electronic devices on which they found nude photos of Sandusky that matched the ones he sent to the girl, the complaint said.
Several items in his house that matched ones seen in the photos, such as a bathroom mat and a T-shirt, were confiscated as evidence.
Agents said Sandusky also had a dog in his yard that was the same breed, color and size as a dog that was sitting on the sofa when he recorded the sexually explicit video he sent to the girl.
Investigators said Sandusky agreed to talk to them about their investigation and admitted that he knew he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl, saying: “It was stupid of me.”
According to court records, Sandusky was sentenced to five years of probation in February 2020 after pleading guilty to felony counts of aggravated assault of a child under 6 and endangering the welfare of children.
Plum police charged Sandusky in 2019 with assaulting a 9-day-old girl after she was brought to a hospital with traumatic injuries.
Police said the girl had two broken legs along with abrasions to her chin, nose and forehead and was bleeding when she was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said Sandusky changed his story several times during questioning by a detective. At one point, he told them he put the baby down and was walking to get changing supplies when he “kicked the baby over onto her face.”