A Harmony man initially charged with sexually assaulting a child for a decade received house arrest in Butler County Court on Thursday.

Joseph J. Nuzzo, 44, was received six months house arrest after Butler County Judge William Shaffer issued a six to 12 month county prison sentence but immediately paroled him to the home plan.

Nuzzo also was sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered to undergo sexual offender counseling after entering guilty pleas to charges of misdemeanor corruption of minors, recklessly endangering another person and two counts of simple assault on Feb. 13.

He was initially charged with felony counts of aggravated indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old; endangering the welfare of children; indecent exposure; indecent assault on a person less than 16 years old; invasion of privacy — photograph, view intimate parts of another person; indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old; corruption of minors defendant age 18 years old or older; and aggravated indecent assault victim less than 13 years old.

Most of the charges were bound over to county court during a preliminary hearing in 2015 and later amended in 2017 to include the charges to which he pleaded guilty.

Shaffer said that after reviewing the case — including previous motions, the pre-sentence investigation, sentencing guidelines and victim impact statements, — that a standard range sentence was appropriate.

Nuzzo's attorney, Michael Pawk, argued for a probationary sentence so that Nuzzo could remain employed and supporting his family and because he has a zero prior record score.

He also noted that Nuzzo underwent mental health and sexual offender treatment evaluations, which suggested sexual offender counseling and that Nuzzo was a “low risk of reoffending in the future.”

The victim, who was 8 years old at the time the abuse began in 2004, read a victim impact statement to the court, telling Shaffer that Nuzzo began touching her as a young child, and the abuse progressed to him peeping on her while changing and touching her while she was sleeping, to finding a hidden camera in her room.

State police allege that the abuse continued for a decade in Cranberry and Lancaster townships, until 2014. Nuzzo was charged in April 2015, and released on his own recognizance.