Sex offender sent to prison
A Butler man was sentenced Wednesday to state prison, after admitting to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in a Butler park in 2016.
Joseph M. Maggio, 24, was sentenced to 4 to 8 years in a state correctional facility by Judge William Shaffer. He was given 311 days time served credit and will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Maggio pleaded guilty March 14 to felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16 years old.
Officials with the Butler County District Attorney's Office Victim Services Program read a statement in court from the victim's father, who described the young man as previously trusting. Maggio, the statement said, had destroyed that trust.
“He loved everyone, trusted everyone, now he tells me he doesn't trust anyone,” the statement said. “He lost his trust in people, his joy of giving and helping others. I hope you never forget what you took away from a child who only wanted to help others.”
The statement said that the family had “let you live with us and helped you out” and Maggio “knew he (the child) had autism and took advantage of him.”
Maggio apologized, saying he is “ashamed of what I've done.”
“This has been a big eye opener for me and I hope this won't happen again,” he said, saying that he was seeking help through prison programs.
Maggio was charged after allegations that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the summer or fall of 2016 at Butler Memorial Park.
Butler police began the investigation after a June 2017 report from ChildLine, the state's child abuse hot line. The boy told forensic interviewers with the Butler County Alliance for Children that Maggio had assaulted him when he was 12.
The boy said Maggio told him not to tell anyone after the assault, according to court documents.
Investigators later spoke to the boy's father, who told police that Maggio had made an “unsolicited statement” to him about the incident, police said.
Police also said that Maggio admitted to the incident and that he knew the boy's age to be either 11 or 12 at the time of the assault.
