Lifetime registration for Nanticoke sexual offender
May 2—WILKES-BARRE — A Nanticoke man accused of sexually and physically assaulting a teenage girl was sentenced to up to 11 years in state prison Thursday.
Joseph Paul Banesh, 28, address listed as West Church Street, was accused of assaulting the girl including suffocating her with a pillow several times inside her residence in Conyngham Township in April 2023, according to court records.
After being arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police at Shickshinny, Banesh admitted to sexually and physically assaulting the girl claiming he "blacks-out" when he becomes angry and agitated, court records say.
Banesh told investigators, court records say, he remembered several but not all of the assaults.
State police charged Banesh after the girl was questioned by a forensic interviewer at the Luzerne County Children's Advocacy Center.
Details of the interview listed in court records are graphic.
During his sentencing hearing before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr., Banesh's attorney, James R. Elliott, said Banesh was never treated for mental health issues.
Sklarosky sentenced Banesh to four-to-11 years in state prison on charges of sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and simple assault. Banesh pled guilty to the charges Jan. 22.
As a sexual offender, Banesh is subject to lifetime registration under the state's Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.
