Sewickley Township man accused of sexual abuse is denied bail

A Sewickley Township man will remain in jail as he awaits trial on charges that he repeatedly molested a young girl.

David Lee Hresko, 33, was charged last year with felony counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, child endangerment and corruption of minors, as well as a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure.

Hresko’s request to be released from jail ahead of his trial was rejected Thursday by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani.

Police allege Hresko had improper sexual contact for four years with a girl under the age of 13. According to court records, the girl reported the alleged abuse to officials at her elementary school after she saw a program presented by the Blackburn Center. Police said school officials reported the allegation to the state’s ChildLine abuse hotline, and it was forwarded to the county’s Children’s Bureau and state police.

Hresko has been in jail since his arrest in April 2019 on $500,000 cash bond.

In court documents filed last week, defense attorney Justin Ketchel said Hresko should be released on a nominal bond because he has been in jail for more than a year, in part because of court delays attributed to the coronavirus.

“The covid-19 emergency was an unforeseen circumstance. Yet, the amount of time that the defendant has spent in pretrial incarceration without reasonable bail/bond has become pretrial punishment,” Ketchel wrote.

Hresko’s trial was scheduled for May. All jury trials in the county have been suspended through June because of the pandemic.

Feliciani on Thursday scheduled Hresko’s trial to begin in September.