Sexual assault case removed from overcrowded trial list
The trial for a Pittsburgh man charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Evans City following a 2022 New Year’s Eve party has been delayed due to a crowded trial schedule.
Joshua Tyler Dilembo, 28, is facing charges of rape of an unconscious victim and aggravated indecent assault stemming from the alleged incident.
His trial was scheduled for November in Butler County Common Pleas Court. However, other trials — including a homicide by vehicle trial — are on the docket.
The case was removed from the November trial list during an in-chamber conference Wednesday, Oct. 28, between Judge Joseph Kubit and prosecution and defense attorneys.
At a preliminary hearing in April 2024, the woman testified that she, Dilembo and three others gathered Dec. 31, 2022, for a New Year’s Eve celebration in an Evans City apartment.
The woman said the group had been drinking alcohol since 7 p.m. that night, and she laid down on the living room floor to sleep early New Year’s Day. She said she awoke around 1 a.m. and found Dilembo had removed her clothes and was touching her inappropriately.
She said she was afraid to say anything to Dilembo during the assault, but she did not give consent. She said the assault lasted five minutes, and then she went back to sleep.
When she awoke a short time later, she said Dilembo was sexually assaulting her and the assault lasted around two minutes. She said Dilembo stopped and left the apartment after the phone of someone in the apartment starting ringing.
The woman said she told someone else in the apartment what happened and 911 was called. She said she was taken by ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital, where a sexual assault evaluation was performed.
