A Salisbury Township man was sentenced to up to two years in county prison plus three years of probation after he pleaded no contest last month to brutally assaulting a woman and then threatening to “screw” her if she didn’t change her story to police, then later being caught surreptitiously photographing a young girl.

Judge Jeffrey Conrad sentenced Anthony John Valente, of the 800 block of Skyline Drive, after he pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to a single count each of simple assault, intimidating a witness and invasion of privacy.

Though Valente had manipulated and fooled the victims and their families, “you’re not going to fool me and I’m who you’re dealing with now,” Judge Conrad told him.

Valente, 40, first assaulted the victim at a residence in the 300 block of Village Spring Lane in West Cocalico Township in July 2024.

The victim told police Valente pushed her up against a cabinet or wall in the residence. Police observed multiple injuries on the victim including bruises.

In speaking to police the victim expressed fears that Valente, who at the time had been recently released from incarceration and was in violation of a Protection From Abuse order, would kill her when he retrieved his firearms following the completion of his probation period.

After being jailed for the assault, Valente continued to call and harass the victim and her family members while in Lancaster County Prison – a violation of his bail conditions.

Over the course of 25 phone calls – 17 in which he spoke directly with the victim – Valente urged the victim to stop speaking to the police, change her story as to what occurred and claim that she was drunk during the assault.

If the victim didn’t do as Valente told her, he said in one of the calls, she would be “screwed.”

Each of the calls were placed on recoded phone lines in Lancaster County Prison.

During the investigation into the assault it was also discovered that Valente surreptitiously photographed a separate juvenile victim by screenshotting images from a security camera at the same West Cocalico Township residence between February and July 2024. The victim was unaware that any of the images had been taken.

A forensic examination of Valente’s phone uncovered a series of images of the juvenile victim wearing bathing suits and sports bras. Another series of images on Valente’s phone were zoomed in between the juvenile victim’s bare legs to her underwear.

Other pictures on Valente’s phone depicted the juvenile victim’s female friends, also minors, in their bathing suits when they visited the residence’s pool.

Many of the pictures were taken from a distance but zoomed in on intimate areas of the victims’ bodies.

An eyewitness had shown investigators several pictures on Valente’s cellphone that were looking up the juvenile victim’s legs and under her shirt.

As part of his sentence Valente must register with Pennsylvania State Police as a Megan’s Law violator for 15 years and is subject to sex offender conditions.

Assistant District Attorneys Fritz Haverstick and Ben Baker prosecuted the cases.

Ephrata Borough Police Det. Beth Rivera and Officer David Johnston filed the charges.