Hempfield 18-year-old accused of assaulting, raping 3 teens

A tip this summer to Pennsylvania’s child abuse hotline has led to state police arresting an 18-year-old Hempfield man on allegations that he raped three teen girls.

Joshua E. Kunkle was arraigned on 36 criminal counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, indecent assault without consent, sexual assault and simple assault. He was ordered held in the county jail on $150,000 bond.

The investigation began after officials monitoring Childline reported that an alleged victim disclosed to an acquaintance that she was repeatedly assaulted by Kunkle in 2016 after they began dating, Trooper Trey Parsley wrote in court documents.

“Victim 1 reported being physically, emotionally and sexually assaulted throughout their relationship,” Parsley reported.

The teen, who was subsequently interviewed with a relative, described multiple assaults in 2016 to investigators, Parsley said. She also provided the names of two other girls who were allegedly assaulted by Kunkle after her relationship with him ended, he added.

Parsley said he interviewed a second teen who said she “would fight in an attempt to get away from him during their encounters.” She reported Kunkle assaulted her multiple times from April 2017 through March 2019, Parsley said.

According to police reports, a third teen reported she also was assaulted and raped during their relationship that began in October 2019 and ended in May.

Parsley said the girl, who was interviewed with her mother present, told him she was “so scared something would happen to her” during the abuse that she photographed her injuries with her cellphone.

She provided those images to police.

“Each photograph had a date and time the photos were taken, corroborating the victim’s story,” Parsley wrote.

Parsley said he first interviewed Kunkle on Wednesday and he “confessed” to assaulting only the first girl before terminating the interview. Later, Parsley said Kunkle called him back and wanted to “speak further with me.”

On Friday, Parsley said Kunkle was interviewed again and admitted to “assaulting all three girls.” He was taken into custody.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30.