Delton Kirkland shown at his arraignment on May 2, 2019.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Luzerne man pleads guilty
to rape of a child
WILKES-BARRE — A Luzerne borough man accused of sexually assaulting a girl for several years pleaded guilty to a charge against him on Thursday.
Michael Alan Hornick, 29, appeared before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Thursday, during which appearance he entered a guilty plea on a felony count of rape of a child.
Hornick was arrested last August when Luzerne Borough Police accused him of sexually assaulting a girl between August 2017 and November 2019.
While being questioned by police, Hornick allegedly admitted to engaging in a sexual act with the girl on one occurrence.
Hornick will be sentenced by Sklarosky on Aug. 12. His bail was revoked, so he will await sentencing at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
Court records show that these aren’t the first charges of sex with a minor that Hornick has faced; Hornick was arrested by Luzerne police in December 2019 on allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl from April 2019 to July 2019.
Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Hornick pleaded no contest to a single count of corruption of minors and was sentenced June 15 to 15 months probation, court records say.
Prosecutors withdrew a statutory sexual assault charge against Hornick under the plea agreement.
Pittston man pleads guilty
in stabbing case
WILKES-BARRE — A Pittston man accused of stabbing his girlfriend in the chest in 2019 entered a guilty plea on charges against him this week.
Delton Kirkland, 36, entered a guilty plea on a felony count of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor count of possession of a weapon before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Thursday.
Kirkland was accused of stabbing Yaunita Folk in May 2019. Police say Folk ran to a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus, bleeding from the chest. Folk climbed aboard the bus, collapsing to the floor as Kirkland chased her.
Police later found Kirkland kneeling on Butler Street with his hands in the air. Police said that they believe Folk was stabbed while she was sleeping.
When Kirkland was arrested, he was already out on $10,000 unsecured bail from a domestic assault charge which occurred only 16 days earlier, also with Folk. During that incident, Kirkland allegedly shoved Folk against a wall during an argument, later telling police that it was not right what he did.
Records show that Kirkland previously pleaded guilty to charges against him in that case, but he has yet to be sentenced on it. Prosecutors plan to seek a deadly weapons enhancement at the time of sentencing.
Sklarosky scheduled Kirkland’s sentencing for July 20. He will be housed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility until then.
Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus drivers AnnMarie Kocher and Doris Shaw were later honored for saving Folk’s life by laying her on the floor of a bus and keeping her alert, blocking Kirkland out of the bus until police and an ambulance arrived.
—By Patrick Kernan