Jefferson County man to serve up to 20 years for sexual assault of Vandergrift boy

A Jefferson County man was sentenced Friday to serve up to 20 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 6-year-old boy.

Joshua Michael Irvine, 26, pleaded guilty to felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault for the molestation of a child in Vandergrift over a three-month period that ended in 2022.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio imposed two concurrent 10- to 20-year prison sentences and ordered Irvine to serve an additional three years on probation. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed the remaining 24 counts originally filed against Irvine.

“The fact that you accepted responsibility and prevented the child from having to testify is the only reason why I will impose concurrent sentences,” the judge said.

According to court records, the child’s mother told investigators Irvine was a family acquaintance who needed a place to live and was invited to move into a home in July 2022.

The child claimed he was sexually assaulted multiple times and was threatened by Irvine to remain silent about the incidents. Irvine initially denied the allegations but later confessed, police said.

“Josh was my brother’s best friend for years and was the best man at his wedding. That wedding is now tarnished because of a monster. I will never forgive Josh for what he had done,” the boy’s mother testified.

She read a letter from her son, in which he claimed Irvine told the boy he would go to jail if he told anyone about the assaults.

“I want Josh to be in jail for as long as possible,” the victim said in his letter.