Hatfield man admits to sex assault
NORRISTOWN >> A Hatfield Township man admitted to sexually assaulting and choking a woman at his residence during an attack that ended when the woman slashed the man with a knife.
David Andrew Mendenko, 28, of the first block of Crestwood Court, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of sexual assault and strangulation in connection with the May 2018 incident at his residence.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill deferred sentencing until later this year and ordered that Mendenko be held at the county jail without bail pending the sentencing hearing. The judge ordered that Mendenko undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and he ordered Mendenko to have no contact with the victim.
Mendenko faces up to six years in prison on the charges, court papers indicate.
Hatfield police responded to Mendenko’s residence at the Brookside Manor Apartments about 4:51 a.m. May 5, 2018, for a report of a physical disturbance. A woman told police that Mendenko, who she knew, attacked her while they were both at the residence after returning there from an area bar.
Mendenko choked the woman with both hands and pulled off her jeans in an attempt to rape her, the woman told police, according to the criminal complaint. The woman told police she fought back by hitting Mendenko.
“He then strangled (the woman) by placing his hands around her throat and cutting off her air supply. (The woman) pulled Mendenko’s beard and attempted to push him off her but he continued to strangle her until she lost consciousness,” Hatfield Police Officer Keith Blank alleged in the arrest affidavit.
When the woman regained
consciousness she broke free and ran to the kitchen where she retrieved a large, serrated knife for protection, police said. Mendenko grabbed the woman and began choking her again, police said.
“She told Mendenko she would stab him if he continued to attack her. Mendenko attacked (the woman) yet again by forcing her onto the mattress and pinning her down. (The woman) slashed Mendenko once on the right arm,” alleged Blank, adding the woman was able to escape from the apartment and seek help at a nearby residence.
Police said the woman was “visibly shaken.”
“There were multiple abrasions around her neck and redness and swelling was observed by her right eyebrow. (The woman’s) arms were scratched in several places and there was a contusion on her lower right leg. Multiple defensive wounds were observed on her fingers and there were bloodstains on the front of her shirt,” Blank alleged.
Police said Mendenko suffered a laceration to his forearm, the result of the woman slashing him with the knife. Police also observed Mendenko to have scratches and contusions to his face and a bite mark on the right side of his chest from the woman “defending herself from the strangulation and sexual assault,” Blank alleged.
Other charges of aggravated and simple assault, rape, unlawful restraint, recklessly endangering another person and indecent assault are scheduled to be dismissed against Mendenko at sentencing time in exchange for his guilty plea to the felony sexual assault and strangulation charges.