Man pleads guilty to sexual assault charges

BRIDGEPORT — An Ansonia man, caught with his pants down in the bedroom of a 14-year-old girl by the girl’s father, pleaded guilty to sex assault charges Friday.

Andre Joseph, 24, of Beaver Street, Ansonia, is facing up to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child.

He is scheduled to be sentenced March 22. Joseph’s lawyer, Frank Riccio II, declined comment.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Harry told the judge that on May 22, 2015, a local man had come home from work early to hear noises coming from his daughter’s bedroom.

He opened the door and saw his daughter being sexually assaulted by two men, the prosecutor said.

Harry continued that the father grabbed a machete and chased the two men through the house, cutting one in the hand before the men jumped out a window.

The girl told her father she didn’t know the names of the two men and had contacted them through Facebook.

However, Harry said sometime later Joseph, who matched the description of one of the men, arrived at the emergency room at Griffin Hospital with a gash on his hand. He said Joseph claimed he had gotten the cut in a fight with a robber.

A second defendant, Rashad Smith, 23, of Laurel Court, surrendered to police after learning there was a warrant for his arrest.

Smith is charged with second-degree sexual assault and illegal sexual contact with a minor. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.