A Westmoreland County judge said he was ready to give a break to a Southwest Greensburg man who pleaded guilty Tuesday to the sexual assaults of a 12-year-old two decades ago.
Michael Bompiani, 45, had just agreed to serve a 7-to-14-year prison sentence when he addressed the judge.
“I am truly sorry for what happened. I just hope all the truth will come out eventually,” Bompiani said as he pleaded guilty to four counts of including felony charges of statutory sexual assault and other related offenses.
The charges stem from allegations he had sexual relations over a five-year period with preteen girl starting in 2003.
Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart said that comment forced him to reconsider Bompiani’s request to begin serving his sentence in early May.
Instead, he ordered Bompiani, who since he was charged in 2023 was free on bail, be handcuffed and immediately taken into custody.
“I don’t think he accepted responsibility for his actions. The truth will come out, I don’t know what that means. She was a little girl when this happened? In my mind nothing can change what happened,” Stewart said. “This was a situation where you found someone vulnerable and you preyed upon that.”
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said the prosecution took no official position on whether Bompiani’s sentence should be delayed but suggested his immediate incarceration could provide closure.
“There is something important and powerful to see him put in handcuffs and taken off to jail,” Iannamorelli said.
Prosecutors contended Bompiani worked at a Derry Township restaurant in the early 2000s when he met his victim and befriended her family. According to court records, Bompiani used that relationship to repeatedly molest his victim over the next five years.
She came forward with the sexual assault allegations in 2023 after Bompiani attempted to make contact with her over social media, prosecutors said.
“He fooled us for years,” the victim’s mother testified during Tuesday’s court hearing. “I can’t believe we didn’t have any clue. We gave him easy access to our daughter and he took our daughter’s innocence.”
According to court records, Bompiani told police he knew his victim was in elementary school when the sexual assaults started.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed four counts of rape. Bompiani was ordered serve five years on probation following the expiration of his prison sentence and has a lifetime requirement to register as a convicted sex offender.
Bompiani’s victim, now in her early 30s, in a statement read aloud in court, told the judge she continues to struggle with the impact of the sexual assaults.
“My parents blame themselves instead of him. This took place over five years and I never had the chance to just be a child and develop myself,” she wrote. “I’ve gone through therapy. But this is something I’ll deal with for the rest of my life.”