Attorney for North Huntingdon sex offender claims his client was assaulted at Westmoreland County Prison

A North Huntingdon man who admitted to sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl claimed that he was assaulted at the Westmoreland County Prison while awaiting resolution of his court case, his attorney said Monday.

Defense attorney Pat Thomassey pleaded for leniency saying James Gockel, 41, has lived a troubled life that included being sexually assaulted at the Hempfield jail after his arrest.

Gockel reported the assault to jail administrators, Thomassey said.

Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio sentenced Gockel to 5 to 10 years in prison and three additional years on probation. The judge also ordered Gockel to complete sex offender treatment.

Prison Warden Steve Pelesky declined to discuss Gockel’s claim, but said all criminal allegations raised by inmates are referred to the county District Attorney’s Office for investigation. Melanie Jones, spokeswoman for District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said detectives investigated the allegation last year and determined it was unfounded.

Gockel pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent assault and more than two dozen counts of possession and dissemination of child pornography.

Investigators were notified in 2022 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that videos were uploaded by Gockel to YouTube between April 2020 and January 2022 and included images of young children, according to court records.

Search warrants led police to Gockel, who admitted to making sexual videos with an 8-year-old girl, police said in court records.

Multiple videos and hundreds of images were found on computer equipment seized from Gockel.

“This case has a lot of disturbing factors,” said Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr. “This is an egregious case.”

Prosecutors earlier this year agreed to waive mandatory 10-year minimum sentence to facilitate a plea deal and avoid having the victim appear before a jury. Barr said Gockel’s accuser was terrified to testify.