Derry Township man jailed on charges of child assault

A Derry Township man is accused by state police of giving a child a bloody nose and bruises in a beating before school last week, according to court papers.

Christopher Dominic Hilty Sr., 33, is being held without bond at the Westmoreland County Prison.

He is charged with strangulation, harassment, simple assault, terroristic threats and child endangerment.

Officials from the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau contacted troopers on Friday when the child reported the situation after arriving at school. Hilty allegedly got upset because the child ate a cookie cake that was in the refrigerator of a township home, according to court papers.

Police say Hilty choked and punched the child in the face. He is accused of using a curtain rod to hit the child on the buttocks, causing what troopers described as deep bruising. Hilty also threatened to kill the child if more of the cookie cake was eaten, according to court papers.

Hilty was arraigned on Saturday. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A Feb. 24 preliminary hearing is set.

Hilty’s criminal history in Westmoreland County dates back to at least 2012, according to online court records. He was sentenced in December 2019 to three years of probation on a child endangerment charge stemming from an incident in Derry Township. Charges of strangulation and simple assault were dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

A month earlier, he was sentenced to two years in a probationary program and six months under house arrest for forgery and theft charges filed by Latrobe police in a 2018 incident, according to online court records.