A Perkasie Borough man is facing multiple felony sex abuse charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl whom he met online via the Omegle chat platform.
Jonathan Faucette, 55, has been charged with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility, along with misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, corruption of minors and possession of an instrument of crime, in connection with the investigation by the New Hanover Township Police Department.
Police said they received a tip on May 18 via a mandated reporter through ChildLine, stating that a girl had disclosed a sexual encounter with an older, married man. Investigators determined that the victim had met Faucette online through Omegle — an online chat platform that does not require registration and connects users with random strangers from anywhere in the world — and the two later began messaging each other through Instagram, according to the criminal complaint.
On May 7, Faucette and the victim agreed to meet in a wooded area adjacent to a New Hanover Township Park, police said. Faucette then spread a blue blanket on the ground and sexually assaulted the victim via intercourse and other sex acts, investigators said.
During the execution of a search warrant on Faucette’s home, police said they recovered the blue blanket that was used during the assault, as will as other evidence “consistent with the victim’s account of the assault.”
“The online world is a serious threat to young girls and boys, since its anonymity makes it attractive to sexual predators. This defendant was preying on young girls on a website/app called Omegle, which markets itself as ‘Talk to Strangers! There are some very cool people in the world,’” said DA Steele. “Omegle has come under fire before for not verifying the ages of any user or monitoring the communications on its platform as it matches users with random strangers to have one-on-one chats. Parents need to make sure they talk to their kids about the dangers in using this kind of a platform, how people can lie about who they are and above all, the danger of meeting someone in real life who they have only talked to online. Stranger danger is real online.”
Faucette was arraigned by District Judge Henry Nesbitt III on July 16, who set bail at $500,000 cash along with the restriction that Faucette have no contact with the victim, no contact with juveniles and no internet usage. Faucette was then remanded to county jail after failing to post bail.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 27 at 1 p.m. in front of District Judge Maurice Saylor. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief of Trials Brianna Ringwood and Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Glenning.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
See also:
Telford Man Arrested After Offering $300 For Sex With Underage Girl In New Jersey, AG Says
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