MANHATTAN – Additional charges have been filed by the Riley County Attorney’s office for Joshua Penabaz, 44, of Manhattan as a result of ongoing investigations into two child sex crime cases, according to a media release from the Riley County Police Department.
Penabaz is charged with aggravated criminal sodomy, two counts of rape, and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child that were reported to have occurred between 2009 and 2011 involving a female victim between the ages of 2 and 4 at the time.
The relationship between Penabaz and this victim is unrelated to his previous employment as a school nurse with USD 383 Manhattan/Odgen.
An additional charge of rape has also been filed for Penabaz after new information was discovered connecting him to a reported September 2021 incident involving a 5-year-old female student at a preschool within the USD 383 school district where he was employed at the time.
These additional charges are unrelated to his Feb. 18 arrest for numerous rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated criminal sodomy charges.
Those sex crimes were reported to have occurred over several years and were unrelated to his previous employment. Penabaz remains confined in the Riley County Jail on a $1 million bond.
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MANHATTAN—Law enforcement authorities investigating a series of sex crimes over several years and have a suspect in custody.
On Friday afternoon, police arrested 44-year-old Joshua Penabaz of Manhattan, according to a media release from the Riley County Police Department.
Penabaz is currently being held at the Riley County Jail on a bond of $1 million on requested charges for rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated criminal sodomy.