Former South Fayette football coach sentenced
A former California University of Pennsylvania and South Fayette High School football coach was sentenced March 1 on charges stemming from sexually explicit social media messages he sent to two teenage boys.
Allegheny County Judge Alexander Bicket sentenced Patrick Onesko, 28, of Luzerne Township, Fayette County, to one to two years in Allegheny County jail. Bicket immediately granted Onesko parole to house arrest for the balance of his jail sentence.
He also imposed a five-year probation term. Onesko must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Jurors convicted Onesko in December of criminal solicitation, unlawful contact with a minor and two counts of corruption of minors.
Bicket ordered Onesko’s bond revoked following his conviction and he has spent the past three months in jail.
South Fayette police filed charges a year ago. Their investigation began last February when a township man reported his son received sexually explicit messages from a man using Snapchat, a popular social media cellphone app. Police said a photo of Onesko was seen in some of the conversations involving a person identified as “Coach O.”
Investigators searched Onesko’s parents’ South Fayette home, confiscating a computer and cellphone.
Onesko coached at South Fayette from 2009 to 2014. He was a part-time assistant coach at Cal U. for about a year, but was fired shortly after the accusations against him surfaced. He’d previously been a volunteer with the university’s athletic department.
His attorney, Stephen Misko, wasn’t immediately available for comment following the sentencing.