Westmoreland County detectives are accusing a New Kensington man who has been in jail since 2024 of fathering a child with an Arnold teenager after repeatedly sexually assaulting her.
Burnell Johnson, 27, is facing charges of statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person younger than 16.
Johnson has been in Westmoreland County jail since Dec. 31, 2024, after he surrendered to New Kensington police following a three-hour standoff the night before.
Police said Johnson had two loaded guns and may have attempted to blow up the house via a natural gas explosion. He was charged with risking a catastrophe and prohibited possession of a firearm. That case remains ongoing.
Johnson was also wanted on aggravated assault charges from Oct. 2024 stemming from an incident in Pittsburgh, during which police said he beat and pistol whipped a woman in Mt. Washington.
The latest sexual assault charges were filed after an Arnold girl told police Johnson had repeatedly assaulted her throughout Dec. 2024 when she was 15 years old.
According to a criminal complaint filed against Johnson, the girl gave birth to a baby last summer.
The first time Johnson assaulted the girl, she was completing an assignment at her home for an eighth grade class while her father was at work, the complaint said.
The girl told police she repeatedly told Johnson to stop taking off her clothes. He was also in possession of a handgun at the time, according to the complaint.
Johnson continued to assault the girl throughout December until his arrest after the SWAT incident, the complaint said.
The girl told police that when the two first met, she told Johnson that she was 15 and Johnson told her he was 19, according to the complaint.
She only realized he was 26, the complaint said, after seeing arrest information stemming from the SWAT incident.
When police interviewed Johnson, they said, he confirmed the sexual encounters. He told police the girl had reported her age as 18, the complaint said.
Johnson’s preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 19 before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr.
James Spriestersbach, a Westmoreland County public defender who represents Johnson for the charges stemming from the SWAT incident, declined to say whether he would represent his client for the new charges.