Joseph Maggio

A bond modification was denied in Butler County Court on Tuesday for a man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in a Butler park, after he asked to be released to house arrest pending sentencing.

Joseph M. Maggio, 24, of Butler, asked to be released so he could spend some time with his ailing grandmother, but that motion was denied by Judge William Shaffer.

His attorney, Public Defender Maura Palumbi, filed the motion after she argued that her client was fully compliant with the police investigation and has been incarcerated since Aug. 1, and had taken responsibility for his actions by entering the guilty plea.

“I don't believe there would be any reason for Mr. Maggio to cross paths with the victim or vice versa,” she said.

Tracey Maggio, Joseph Maggio's mother, testified Tuesday that he had moved back from Virginia in June 2017 to help his mother take care of his grandmother, who has been bedridden since January 2017, and is in failing health due to kidney cancer and diabetes.

“She's been like another parent to him,” she said. “We are just not sure how much longer she has. I'm scared that if he goes to state (prison) she may not see him again.”

Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope opposed to the motion, saying the court is currently awaiting a sexually violent predator evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board. The victim was 12 years old at the time of the assault.

Lope said he was not opposed to a brief furlough to allow Maggio to spend with his grandmother, but was opposed to a general release, even to house arrest.

Maggio pleaded guilty on March 14 to felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and the plea agreement calls for a sentence of 4 to 8 years in a state prison. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Maggio was initially charged with felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person less than 16 years old, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors, and misdemeanor indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child, after allegations that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the summer or fall of 2016 at Butler Memorial Park.

Maggio continues to be held in Butler County Prison on $75,000 bail pending sentencing.