Nanticoke man pleads guilty to sexually assaulting child
Jan. 23—WILKES-BARRE — A man from Nanticoke admitted in Luzerne County Court he sexually assaulted a girl several times inside a Conyngham Township residence in 2023.
Joseph Paul Banesh, 28, last known address West Church Street, was accused of sexually and physically assaulting the girl between April 19 and April 21, 2023, according to court records.
Banesh pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, corruption of minors and simple assault before Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr.
Prosecutors withdrew charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, strangulation and indecent assault against Banesh.
Banesh was scheduled for a trial this week but opted to plea guilty to some of the charges.
Banesh was charged by the Pennsylvania State Police at Shickshinny after a girl reported he sexually assaulted her. She was treated at a hospital in Columbia County.
During an interview with troopers, Banesh admitted to having sexual relations with the girl claiming the relationship was consensual. Banesh told troopers he "blacks-out" and only remembered suffocating the girl with a pillow, court records say.
Banesh remains jailed at the county correctional facility and is scheduled to be sentenced May 2.
