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Police charge Westmoreland County man with raping 5-year-old Allegheny County girl

Tribune-Review - 2/25/2020

Feb. 25--A 41-year-old Sutersville man awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges he raped two young Westmoreland County girls was arrested again last week on multiple charges of raping a 5-year-old girl in Allegheny County in 2011.

Ronald E. Styche III was arraigned Wednesday before Coraopolis District Judge Michele Santicola on multiple charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor filed by Allegheny County Police.

According to court dockets, Santicola arraigned Styche via video from the Westmoreland County Prison, where he has been held in lieu of $500,000 bond since his Feb. 11 arrest.

State Trooper James McKenzie reported that, in recent interviews, the children told investigators the sexual abuse in Westmoreland County began in 2017. According to the criminal complaint, the assaults occurred on multiple occasions until December.

According to court documents filed in the Allegheny County case, the victim was interviewed by out-of-state investigators in 2016 after a complaint was made to ChildLine, a child abuse hotline.

Allegheny County Detectives Corinne Orchowski and Richard Keebler allege in court documents that the victim told them she was repeatedly assaulted by Styche when her family lived in the Coraopolis area in 2011.

The victim's family corroborated with investigators that Styche had contact with the victim during the period when the assaults are alleged to have occurred, according to court documents.

After Styche's Westmoreland arrest, the detectives interviewed him at the Hempfield lockup on Feb. 13 and he denied any sexual contact with the Allegheny County child, but also told detectives he "had a very high, active sex drive at the time," the complaint alleges.

When detectives further pressed him about the allegations by the child, police said "he became emotionally upset and terminated the interview."

Styche's preliminary hearing on the Westmoreland charges was continued Monday until March 9 before Rostraver District Judge Charles Christner.

Court dockets on the Allegheny County complaints said Santicola set his bond at $100,000 on the 2011 complaints pending a preliminary hearing there March 24.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

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