A Leechburg man who once ran several local restaurants is facing multiple felony charges after Westmoreland County detectives say he sexually assaulted a girl he later adopted, beginning when she was 13 years old and continuing for years afterward. The case against 34-year-old Joseph Hesketh only came to light, according to investigators, after he repeatedly sought to become a foster parent to a 9-year-old girl earlier this year.
Hesketh co-owned Twisted Thistle and Market Street Pizza in Leechburg, along with Crossbar Grill in New Kensington, according to TribLIVE. As reported by CBS News Pittsburgh, KDKA-TV's Chris Derose reported that the Leechburg man allegedly carried on an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor for years before detectives caught up with the case.
A Foster Application Unravels a Years-Old Secret
The investigation into Hesketh began in May, after the Westmoreland County Children's Bureau flagged county detectives to his persistent requests to foster a 9-year-old girl, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office. That request triggered the standard background evaluation required of anyone seeking to foster a child, and it was that process, not a direct report from the victim, that set the current case in motion.
Under Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law, prospective foster parents must undergo mandatory background checks that include state police criminal history records, ChildLine child abuse clearances, and federal FBI fingerprint checks before any child can be placed in their home, per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. It was this layer of screening, built to catch red flags before a placement is made, that ultimately exposed the allegations against Hesketh years after they reportedly began.
Court Records Detail Years of Alleged Abuse
Court filings state that the victim met Hesketh when she was 8 or 9 years old and was later adopted by him. She told investigators that Hesketh began sexually assaulting her when she was 13, in 2015, and that the relationship continued until she was 20, according to the same district attorney's office filing. The victim reported that the encounters took place at Hesketh's home, at the now-defunct Franklin Avenue Church of God in Vandergrift, where Hesketh's brother served as pastor, and at a former dance studio where Hesketh was a partner, as detailed by CBS Pittsburgh.
When detectives interviewed Hesketh, he acknowledged having an affair with the victim but claimed she was 18 at the time, the outlet reported. That account directly conflicts with the victim's statement that the abuse began when she was 13, and court documents do not resolve which timeline investigators ultimately credit.
Earlier Red Flags Reportedly Missed
Court records show that child welfare officials had actually identified Hesketh as a potential perpetrator once before, back in 2018, after uncovering text messages on a computer at a Vandergrift dance studio between Hesketh and his now-wife, who was 15 at the time, referencing sexual activity with another minor, according to TribLIVE's reporting. That means authorities possessed records referencing Hesketh nearly eight years before the current charges were filed, raising unresolved questions about how that earlier disclosure was handled before his 2026 foster application reopened the case.
Charges and What Comes Next
Hesketh was formally charged by Westmoreland County detectives with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 16, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, and indecent assault. He was released on $250,000 unsecured bail ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for August 25, per the district attorney's office.
Under Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18 § 3122.1, statutory sexual assault is defined as engaging in sexual intercourse with an unmarried complainant under 16 years of age when the actor is four or more years older than the victim, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. That statute forms the legal backbone of one of the charges Hesketh now faces as his case heads toward a hearing.
A Pattern of Cases Out of the Leechburg Area
Hesketh's arrest adds to a string of sexual-offense cases tied to the small Westmoreland County borough. In November 2025, another Leechburg resident, 41-year-old Michael Richard Pack Jr., was arrested in Jefferson County and charged with attempted statutory sexual assault after traveling to meet an online decoy posing as a 15-year-old girl, TribLIVE reported. And in December 2018, former Leechburg Police Chief Michael Diebold pleaded guilty in Westmoreland County court to felony statutory sexual assault and related counts after soliciting sex online from an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to WTAE.
Hoodline has previously reported on other Westmoreland County cases involving alleged sexual solicitation of minors, including a Latrobe man accused of sexting a decoy and a Fayette County sting that lured a 64-year-old man to a park. No direct Hoodline coverage of Hesketh's arrest has previously been published.
