Then 18-year-old Juan Zumba-Castro, at his preliminary hearing in February.
A Towamencin man has been sentenced to 178-days-to-23-months in county jail after pleading guilty to one felony count of corruption of a minor, stemming from an investigation that occurred earlier this year.
As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors, charges of criminal attempt-rape of a child, criminal solicitation-rape of a child, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal solicitation, indecent assault of a person less than 13-years of age and criminal use of a communication facility were dropped against 19-year-old Juan Zumba-Castro.
In addition to jail time, the sentenced imposed by Judge Wendy Rothstein on June 25 includes four years’ of probation and prohibits Zumba-Castro from having any contact with the victim. Zumba-Castro will also face an immigration detainer once paroled, and in the event he is not deported or returns to the United States, he will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years.
According to the criminal complaint, Towamencin Township Police responded to Abington Lansdale Hospital on Dec. 9 around 3 p.m. to meet with a pre-teen female sexual assault victim. Once there, police learned that the victim allegedly had an intimate relationship with an adult male—identified as Zumba-Castro. A family member informed police they had seen the victim kissing Zumba-Castro, and that a review of the victim’s cell phone led them to believe that the victim had a sexual relationship with the accused, the report states.
Police then received permission to search the victim’s phone, which lead to the discovery of a lengthy private message conversation between the victim and Zumba-Castro that was sexual in nature, according to the report. Included in the conversation were multiple animated GIFs of male-female sex acts, a photo of condoms and inquiries about sexual intercourse, the report states. At that time, police received permission from the victim’s parents and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office to go undercover and pose as the victim online.
Posing as the victim an unspecified number of days later, police were reportedly contacted by Zumba-Castro via private message stating that he was at a restaurant in Lower Gwynedd, and wanted to meet the victim around 10 p.m. Zumba-Castro added that he would pick up condoms on the way, the report states. Police then drove to the restaurant, where they surveilled Zumba-Castro entering his vehicle and leaving towards the victim’s home, the report states. Police then followed the vehicle to the CVS on South Valley Forge Road, at which point Zumba-Castro allegedly exited the vehicle, entered the store and purchased condoms.
The report states that police continued to follow Zumba-Castro into the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex, where he again reached out to undercover police in an attempt to solidify plans to pick up the victim. Police then initiated a traffic stop, at which point Zumba-Castro said he was just driving around, according to the report.
Upon further questioning during the traffic stop, Zumba-Castro reportedly admitted that he was going to meet the victim, but denied knowing her age. He was then taken into custody, at which point police discovered four condoms in his rear right pocket.
Charges Held at Preliminary Hearing
At a lengthy preliminary hearing in February, defense attorney James Funt argued that the rape of a child charges should be dismissed, stating that those charges were tied to Zumba-Castro kissing the victim and touching her breasts, neither of which constitute rape from his point of view. His argument failed to sway Judge Levine, however, and the charges were held for formal arraignment.
"I think they overcharged him,” said defense attorney James Funt, following the February hearing. "Some of the charges were inappropriate, but some were appropriate.”
Prosecutor Nicholas Beeson declined to comment on the case at that time.
See also:
Attempted Homicide, Aggravated Assault Charges Dropped Against Towamencin Man
Charges Held Against Hatfield Man Accused of Killing Child
Lansdale Man Sentenced To Prison For Stealing Vacation Money From Neighbor
Souderton Woman Sentenced to Prison in Fatal Work Zone Crash
Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to Weapon, Drug Charges
