Latrobe social worker pleads guilty to sex crimes against teen clients

Victims and their supporters stood and cheered Tuesday as a former Latrobe social worker was led out of a Westmoreland County courtroom in handcuffs.

Gregory P. Miscik, 63, pleaded guilty to 13 charges stemming from seven separate cases involving 10 victims. The charges involved sex crimes against teenage clients dating to 2007.

Miscik will now begin serving 4½ to 9 years in prison.

The victims claimed they were targeted by their therapist, who in some cases had been recommended to their families by local school officials.

Prosecutors said Miscik sexually assaulted at least one victim who attended counseling sessions with him as a 15-year-old in 2007 and continued as a patient for the next four years. Other victims claimed Miscik improperly touched them, exchanged sexually explicit photographs for drugs and money, and forced them to have illicit conversations with him.

“He changed all of our lives, and not for the better,” said a victim who is now 32.

She claims her yearslong problem with addiction started at Miscik’s urging after she started therapy sessions to deal with behavioral issues, including marijuana use. Miscik provided her other drugs including cocaine and heroin and used his counseling sessions to entice her into sexual encounters, she said.

She described how her life spiraled after being counseled by Miscik and said she considered suicide. She testified she has been drug-free for the past eight months and no longer thinks about taking her life.

“I’m here today to tell you I am a survivor and you are going to go to jail because of me,” she testified.

Miscik pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts including sexual assault, promoting prostitution, human trafficking, corruption of minors, solicitation and harassment. As part of a plea bargain, prosecutors dismissed charges of rape and other related offenses.

State records show Miscik was licensed as a social worker in 2006. His license was suspended in late 2020 after the first criminal charges against him were filed. His license expired in 2021.

Miscik told Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger he agreed to plead guilty because it was in his best interest.

“I want to apologize for my behavior that was inappropriate,” Miscik said. “I got convoluted and mixed up.”

Krieger imposed terms of a negotiated plea deal that will require Miscik, who has been free on bail since his arrest, to serve prison time and an additional 4 years on probation. He faces a lifetime requirement to register as a convicted sexual offender.