Joshua Allen Mackey shown outside Luzerne County Central Court when he was arrested by Kingston police on Dec. 20, 2022. Ed Lewis | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE — Two men charged by Kingston police with soliciting minors for sex pled guilty to related offenses in Luzerne County Court.
Joshua Allen Mackey, 47, of Roberts Drive, Mountain Top, a retired corrections officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, pled guilty to criminal attempt to commit statutory sexual assault and criminal use of communication facility.
Mackey was charged Dec. 22 on allegations of online solicitation of a 15-year-old girl, acted by Musa Harris, the self-proclaimed Luzerne County Predator Catcher. Harris is identified in court records as a cooperating witness.
In a separate case, Christopher J. Santo, 37, of George Street, Old Forge, pled guilty to criminal solicitation to commit statutory sexual assault and criminal use of communication facility.
Santo was among eight men charged by Kingston police in October 2021, with communicating and soliciting sex with who they believed was a child, according to police.
President Judge Michael T. Vough accepted the separate plea agreements and will sentence the two men Aug. 3.
Vough ordered evaluations of Mackey and Santo by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board.