dme court

A McKees Rocks man is scheduled to go on trial in Butler County Common Pleas Court on charges of sexually abusing three girls in Cranberry Township.

The trial for Francisco Javier Rosalez Melendez, 35, was scheduled Wednesday, Nov. 4, to begin the week of Nov. 16 following jury selection on Nov. 12 or 13 before Judge Maura Palumbi.

Cranberry Township police charged Rosalez Melendez in August 2025 with four counts of rape of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person under 13 — all felonies — and two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure.

Police said they were notified in June 2025 of incidents of child sexual abuse involving three girls aged 8, 10 and 17 that took place from September 2023 to July 2024.

Police said the two younger girls said in interviews they were sexually abused on more than one occasion and they were told to touch part of Rosalez Melendez’s body on at least one occasion.

Police said in July 2024, one of the girls was being sexually abused by Rosalez Melendez when one of the other girls walked in the room. Police said Rosalez Melendez left the house after a confrontation and never returned.

At a preliminary hearing in August 2025, the two younger girls testified that Rosalez Melendez touched them inappropriately.