Several people are due in front of district judges today for preliminary hearings, including a man who faces several counts of child pornography.
51-year-old Stephen Joe Czerniec, Jr. of Indiana will go before District Judge Jennifer Rega today. He faces ten counts of felony child pornography along with single felony counts of statutory sexual assault of an individual 11 years old or older, aggravated indecent assault of someone 16 or younger, and corruption of minors for a case that went back to June 16th, when the victim reported to police that he was sexually assaulted. Czerniec made first contact with the boy through the Grindr dating app. He also allegedly sent several nude pictures and text messages to the victim using the Kik app, where his user name was Steve Czerniec. Police say on June 16th, Czerniec allegedly drove to Clymer, picked up the victim, and took him to another place to have sexual relations.
Czerniec has been in Indiana County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail since he was charged.
Also facing a preliminary hearing today is 38-year-old Jerome Dawaen Robinson of Indiana, who faces charges of burglary, robbery, aggravated assault, and related crimes. The crimes are connected with an incident on June 16th that also involved 38-year-old Percy Spearman and 24 year-old Doneisha Thomas, who were involved in an attempted robbery at a North Foundry Avenue early that morning. The three forced their way in and fought with the victims. Thomas will also have a preliminary hearing today, and Spearman remains at large.
