Child sex-assault cases bound to Lawrence court

staff report

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A man who is charged with raping a 3-year-old and sexually assaulting a 7-year-old had his cases bound over to the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas.

Gary Joel Anderson, 28, of Harlansburg Road in Hickory Township, waived his right to a preliminary hearing at county Central Court on Thursday.

He was taken back to the county jail, where he’s been incarcerated in lieu of $1 million bond.

Anderson is accused of raping the 3-year-old, a relative of his live-in girlfriend, after she was dropped off at their house early in the morning Oct. 17. The girlfriend baby-sat the child, said state police in New Castle. Anderson found her alone in the house and assaulted her, they said.

The child’s parents alerted police, and Anderson confessed, they said. He indicated at that time that he’d assaulted the 7-year-old girl, also a relative of the girlfriend, police said. He attacked the child multiple times between early July and late September, they said.

Police said they also found child pornography on Anderson’s computer.