A martial arts teacher from McDonald is accused of sexually assaulting a young teenage girl on multiple occasions at a West Hills studio, according to Allegheny County Police.
Steve Burnisky, 22, was arrested Friday and taken to Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh.
He faces felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault by a sports official, dissemination to minors, corruption of minors, a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure and four counts of misdemeanor indecent assault.
According to the criminal complaint, the teen’s mother told police she found sexually explicit texts from Burnisky on her daughter’s cell phone.
When confronted by her mother, the girl said that she and Burnisky had hugged and kissed after meeting in summer 2024 at Taekwondo class, where Burnisky was her instructor.
She later told police that their relationship became more routinely physical and continued into this year.
The complaint did not list the name of the martial arts studio but said each of the incidents took place there.
TribLive news partner WTAE obtained an email sent to “Heidelberg families” from Esteps ATA/Steel City ATA, which runs a studio in Heidelberg.
The email, dated March 10, said in part, “due to some private and unfortunate events that occurred recently, Mr. Burnisky is no longer employed with us.”
The email did not provide details.
A message left at ATA in Heidelberg was not returned.
Burnisky was scheduled to be arraigned overnight. No attorney was listed yet on court papers.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 23.