Pittsville Man Charged With Sexual Assault Appears in Wood County Court

Tuesday, July 16th, 2024 -- 2:01 PM

A Pittsville man charged with sexual assault of a child appeared in Wood County Court on Monday.

According to court records, on February 24 of this year, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department was informed that a juvenile was having contact with a registered sex offender in the City of Pittsville. The mother of the child said that her child and Justin Hetzel were texting and planning to meet.

The child initially lied about their age, but once Hetzel found out, he stated he didn’t mind and continued to talk with the child. The text messages between the two eventually turned sexual in nature.

Hetzel also told the child on many occasions to delete their messages and turn off notifications on their phone. He also told the child to change his contact name. Hetzel allegedly met with the child sometime between March 29th and April 29th.

After the child said they did not want any sexual contact with Hetzel he drove them to a wooded area where he and the child engaged in sexual acts. The child said they were afraid Hetzel was going to rape them.

They also said Hetzel wanted to meet up again and told the child if anyone found out they would get in trouble. Hetzel denied knowing the child and owning a cell phone. Hetzel is facing three counts of 2nd degree sexual assault of a child and one count of child enticement-sexual contact.

During his arraignment on Monday, he entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. He has a $250,000 bond set against him and he’s scheduled to be back in court on July 23rd.

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