Troopers charge Arona man with rape of a child

Jul. 29—A 34-year-old Arona man on Thursday was ordered held in the Westmoreland County Prison after state troopers arrested him on rape charges.

Michael A. Wiser was arraigned on charges of deviate sexual intercourse and rape of a child.

According to state police, the mother of a young girl reported an assault to state troopers Wednesday. The woman told state troopers that she came home from shopping and discovered Wiser sexually assaulting the child about 7:30 p.m., according to court documents,

The woman told troopers that when she confronted Wiser about the assault, he replied, "I did it."

Troopers reported that they also spoke with the girl.

According to online court dockets, Wiser, who formerly lived in Lawrence County, served a 3-to-23-month sentence there in 2005 after pleading guilty to a burglary.

Wiser did not have an attorney listed in court dockets. Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour ordered Wiser held in the county jail on $250,000 bond.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled Aug. 13.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .