A Cranberry resident and Beaver County public school special education teacher has been charged after its alleged he contacted an undercover officer in an attempt to sexual assault a minor.
On Friday the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office arrested 37-year-old Justin Pavetto, a teacher at New Horizon School in Beaver County, after he was accused of communicating with an undercover officer posing as a man with an 11-year-old child.
According to charging documents, the officer posed as the step-father of a 11-year-old child visiting the Butler County area in late April. The undercover officer was able to connect with Pavetto on a social media site about sexually assaulting the pretend 11-year-old.
Pavetto is facing several charges including several counts of criminal solicitation to sexually assault a minor.
Over the next week, Pavetto and the man talked about sexually assaulting the fake child in person and over video chats. After a week, contact between the undercover officer and Pavetto ended and Pavetto was arrested a day later.
He’s being held in the Butler County Prison on $500,000 bond a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 29th.
Our newsroom received the following comment from Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit on Pavetto’s arrest:
“Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit (BVIU) administrators learned that an employee was arrested on Friday on charges related to crimes against children. Administrators are fully cooperating with the appropriate law enforcement agencies regarding this matter and are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all students and staff. There will be no further comment from BVIU on this matter.”