Sewickley man convicted of illegal weapons possession

A Sewickley Township man serving a prison sentence for the sexual assault of a teen was convicted Tuesday of illegally possessing of a cache of guns and ammunition.

Steven K. Stemmler, 40, was found guilty of one misdemeanor firearms offense in connection with an allegation that authorities found 15 guns, bows, knifes, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a Kevlar vest and helmet in his camper early last year.

Prosecutors claim Stemmler was barred from possessing those weapons by virtue of a protection of abuse order imposed by a county judge in January 2022. Authorities said Stemmler refused to surrender the weapons when was served with the final protection order.

Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies testified the guns were found during a search of Stemmler’s camper two days later, and six days before he was arrested and charged with unrelated sexual assault allegations.

“I told them I was not going to hand over my guns at all,” Stemmler testified, saying he was collector and wanted to retain his weapons along with those he inherited from his recently deceased father.

Assistant Public Defender Jennifer DeFlitch argued Stemmler was not properly notified he was required to turn over the weapons or that he could relinquish them to a third party while the three-year protection of abuse order, filed by a former girlfriend, was active.

Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Stemmler to serve 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail and ordered he be paroled after being given credit for time he served behind bars since his arrest.

Following a jury trial last year, Stemmler was convicted of the statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, indecent assault and corruption of minors in connection with claims made by a 15-year-old girl.

He was sentenced earlier this month to serve 10 to 20 years in prison.