A 51-year-old Indiana man was arrested Wednesday on accusations he sexually assaulted a teenage boy he met online.
Stephen Joe Czerniec Jr. was taken into custody without incident on 10 counts of sexual abuse of children, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors. He was arraigned before Blairsville District Judge Jennifer Rega and ordered held in the Indiana County Jail on $25,000 bail.
State police spokesman Trooper Clifford Greenfield said the investigation began Sunday after troopers received a report that an unknown adult male had sexually assaulted a teenage boy that day.
After interviews, reviewing electronic devices, conducting video surveillance and serving a search warrant at Czerniec’s residence, Trooper John D. McCombie III determined that the incident began when the defendant and the teenager began communicating through an online dating site.
“The defendant is also alleged to have exchanged nude photographs and text messages with the juvenile through the online site/app ‘KIK’ utilizing the screen name ‘Steve Czerniec,’” Greenfield said.
Police allege that after meeting online and “believing that the victim was 15-years-old,” Czerniec drove to Clymer and transported the victim to another location, where the assault allegedly took place.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled July 3.
