Man sexually abused three Montco girls for five years, court documents say

​Joshua Alan Kessler, 22, of Bucks County, faces up to six years in prison after being sentenced by a Montgomery County judge.

June 25, 2024, 10:14 a.m. EDT

EASTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A Bucks County man has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for sexually abusing three underage girls over a five-year period, authorities said.

Joshua Alan Kessler, 22, of 1200 Jacksonville Road in Ivyland, was sentenced by a Montgomery County court to three to six years in a state reformatory after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a person under 13 and related sexual assault of a person under 13, authorities said.

Subscribe to

Court records show there were several incidents between 2017 and 2021 in which he was alone with each of the victims, who were from Rockledge and Philadelphia.

Following his release, Kessler must serve three years of probation, nine years of court supervision, have no contact with the victims, undergo a psychosexual evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations, the Pottstown Mercury reported.

The investigation began in February 2022, when Rockledge investigators met with three underage females accompanied by their parents who said they were indecently assaulted at locations in Rockledge and Philadelphia while accompanied by Kessler, who knew the victims’ families, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the newspaper.

The girls told investigators that the sexual assaults occurred when they were under 13 years old and that the assaults included inappropriate touching and other sexual contact. Kessler was between 17 and 20 years old when the assaults occurred, the newspaper said.

One girl told investigators the contact made her feel “uncomfortable,” and a second girl said she felt “ambushed” and Kessler told her she was “not allowed to tell anyone about this or there would be consequences,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Rockledge investigator Luke M. Lukashunas.