A Texas man will spend 11 to 22 years behind bars after he was convicted of sexually abusing a family member for a decade, the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. Joseph Tondo, 58, was found guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a child less than 16, statutory sexual assault, indecent exposure and unlawful contact with a minor during a trial Monday. The victim reported that Tondo began abusing her when she was 14, requiring her to perform oral, anal and vaginal sexual acts to earn privileges, according to the DA's Office.
After his trial convictions, Tondo pled no contest to corruption of minors at a separate docket that involved three other teens. These were friends and family of the victim who also reported that Tondo had touched them inappropriately, the DA's Office said. Tondo also received 10 years of probation upon his release.
In a separate proceeding, Common Pleas Judge Cristylee Peck determined that Tondo could be classified as a sexually violent predator. The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Courtney Hair LaRue with assistance from Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jacob Brown-Schields and Victim Advocate Annie Demmy. Sean “Diddy” Combs is staying locked up after a judge Wednesday rejected the hip-hop mogul’s proposal that he await his sex trafficking trial in the luxury of his Florida mansion instead of a grim Brooklyn federal jail.
Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberli.