A 36-year-old New Castle man is facing felony charges after Hermitage police say he touched a 4-year-old girl's genitals inside the men's restroom of the Hermitage Walmart. Lou Sherwood King has been charged with unlawful contact with a minor and indecent assault of a person less than 13, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 7.
Police Detail the Restroom Encounter
Hermitage Police Chief Adam Piccirillo said King allegedly touched the child's genitals inside the store's men's restroom, according to a WKBN27 report relayed by Líbero. The alleged assault happened in July 2026 at the Walmart on North Hermitage Road, according to the New Castle News. The store sits roughly 19 miles north of King's New Castle home, crossing the county line from Lawrence County into Mercer County, per Rome2Rio geographic data cited in the dossier.
The child was taken to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where she underwent a sexual assault kit, the New Castle News reports. The outlet, whose reporting by Melissa Klaric forms the backbone of this account, also identified the publisher as The (Sharon) Herald in its original coverage of the case.
How the Report Reached Police
The criminal investigation began after Mercer County Children and Youth Services filed a formal report with law enforcement regarding the encounter between King and the child, the Sharon Herald reported. That agency referral reflects Pennsylvania's mandatory child welfare reporting system, which routes suspected abuse allegations from CYS caseworkers into law enforcement channels before charges are filed.
Mercer County also runs a specialized Children's Advocacy Center, established in 2015 through a partnership between county CYS, the District Attorney's Office, and local police departments, according to the Mercer County Children's Advocacy Center. The center is designed to conduct forensic interviews and coordinate multi-agency responses in child abuse cases, though the dossier does not specify whether it was directly involved in this particular investigation.
What the Charges Carry
Under Pennsylvania Title 18 Section 6318, unlawful contact with a minor for the purpose of committing a sexual offense is graded as a third-degree felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison and fines as high as $15,000, according to Ciccarelli Law. Separately, indecent assault of a victim under 13 carries strict liability under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3126, meaning sexual contact with a child under that age threshold is treated as a crime regardless of consent, per Bellwoar Kelly LLP. King has not been convicted, and as with all suspects in criminal cases, he is presumed innocent until proven or adjudicated guilty in a court of law.
A Broader Pattern in Regional Child Welfare Cases
Statewide, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services logged 41,070 reports of suspected child abuse in 2024, with 4,756 substantiated cases and sexual abuse representing the largest confirmed category, according to data compiled by the KIDS COUNT Data Center. Mercer County alone recorded 417 annual child abuse allegations with 82 substantiated cases, the majority involving sexual abuse, per figures cited by the LLF Law Firm.
The case adds to a string of recent child sexual assault allegations tied to the region. Hoodline reported in July that New Castle police arrested a Megan's Law registrant on charges of indecent assault of a child under 13 and corruption of minors. The Hermitage Walmart itself was also the starting point for a separate case in July, when an off-duty Hermitage police officer was charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault following a pursuit that began at a nearby Walmart location in Greenville.
Several questions remain unresolved as the September 7 preliminary hearing approaches, including whether bail has been set or posted for King, whether store security footage has been recovered, and whether the Mercer County District Attorney's Office will pursue additional charges as forensic evidence is reviewed.
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