Leechburg man pleads guilty

KITTANNING -- A Leechburg man charged with sexually assaulting two girls admitted yesterday that he had committed the crime and he entered a guilty plea to four charges in connection with the case.

Wayne Allen Danjou, 61, of 175 Lessig Road, entered guilty pleas yesterday to two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of endangering the welfare of children, admitting that he had inappropriate contact with a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old girl on several occasions between April 2003 and August 2004.

"He was very cooperative today and admitted what he'd done," District Attorney Scott Andreassi said.

Danjou allegedly paid Wanda Lee Nuttall, 42, of Allegheny Manor, Kittanning, to have sex with her on several occasions before approaching Nuttall about having sex with the girls, according to police.

He had sexual contact with the girls at Nuttall's residence, in his van in the parking lot at Hilltop Plaza in East Franklin Township, at the Highland Mall parking lot in Harrison Township in Allegheny County, and the J.C. Penney parking lot in Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County, police said.

Andreassi said Nuttall had indicated that she was going to cooperate in the case against Danjou, but prosecutors ultimately worked out a plea agreement with Danjou with the goal of "not putting the victims through the additional trauma of a trial."

"Her cooperation was of limited value considering the case we had," he said of Nuttall. Andreassi said Nuttall's case will be handled within the next month or two.

Both Nuttall and Danjou had admitted to police during the investigation that the incidents had taken place, and police had collected the diary of one of the victims, which also detailed some of the incidents, according to a criminal complaint filed against Danjou.

Because of the nature of the charges, President Judge Joseph Nickleach ordered that Danjou undergo an assessment to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator, making him subject to all of the provisions of the state's Megan's Law provisions.

He will have to register with the state police for life, regardless of whether he is found to be a sexual predator because of some of the charges, the judge said.

Danjou is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1.