Delmont woman charged with threats against judge

A Delmont woman was charged amid allegations that she threatened to hang the Westmoreland County judge who is overseeing her ongoing custody dispute.

Detectives said Jennifer Gesuale, 42, posted a YouTube video on March 7 in which she is alleged to have called for the murder of Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Michele Bononi.

Gesuale was charged with misdemeanor and summary counts of harassment.

According to the criminal complaint filed this week, police said Gesuale is heard speaking on one video about her child custody case, including details about a hearing conducted by Bononi in late February.

In a second video, Gesuale tells the judge: “You should be killed. You should be shot. You should be … hung,” police said.

Bononi has presided over Gesuale’s custody dispute with her husband since 2018, according to police.

A warrant was issued Wednesday for Gesuale’s arrest pending disposition of a request from Westmoreland prosecutors to revoke her bail in a previous case filed in 2019. In that case, police accused her of wiretapping court officials.

Police say Gesuale surreptitiously recorded conversations with a court administrator and Bononi’s law clerk following a court hearing in 2019. Investigators said she then posted a YouTube video that included those recorded conversations.

Gesuale posted a $25,000 bond in that case on Oct. 31, 2019, according to court records.

Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered she be detained pending a hearing on a request to revoke her bail.

Her trial for the felony wiretapping charges has not been scheduled.