A former chief executive officer of a now-defunct Westmoreland County brewery was arrested Wednesday in an undercover child sex sting operation in Blair County.
Leonard Stossel, 55, of 1115 22nd Ave., Altoona, was arrested by agents from state Attorney General Tom Corbett's office and Altoona police when they set up a meeting at an Altoona fast-food restaurant where Stossel believed he was meeting a 12-year-old girl.
Stossel served as CEO of the now-defunct Jones Brewing Co. in Smithton in the mid-1990s. He also is a sports official with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, and in recent years served as a baseball rules interpreter for high school umpires in the Altoona region, according to the PIAA's website.
According to the complaint filed with Altoona District Judge Todd Kelly, Stossel entered an Internet chat room and made contact with an undercover agent from the attorney general's Child Predator Unit on Oct. 31. The agent was using the assumed identity of a 12-year-old girl in 8th grade, according to the complaint.
Attorney General agent Anthony Forray reported that Stossel, using the screen name iwantu16601, wrote in the initial contact "I'm looking for a hot sexy chick" followed by "and I was thinking of swimming in beer with you." Forray reported Stossel then quickly turned the chat into a sexual nature.
Forray alleges that on Nov. 3, Stossel followed up the initial "chat" and sent a message to the undercover agent and stated his desire to have illegal sexual contact with who he believed was a 12-year-old girl. On Nov. 9, agents allege that Stossel again contacted the undercover agent in instant messenger chats and explicitly detailed the sexual activity he would like to have with the 12-year-old girl.
He is charged with one count of unlawful contact with a minor, which carries a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. He also is charged with criminal use of a communication facility.
Stossel was arraigned before Kelly and committed to the Blair County Prison on $50,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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