A Lancaster man is facing more than two dozen charges after he repeatedly filmed himself fondling a disabled elderly woman across multiple locations in Montgomery County, including three incidents in Lansdale Borough, police said.
Malquan Craig, 23, has been charged with nine misdemeanor counts of indecent assaults of a person with mental disabilities, nine misdemeanor counts of indecent assault without consent, and nine counts of invasion of privacy, in connection with the investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau.
Craig is being held at the Lancaster county prison on unrelated charges.
The investigation began on April 4 with the Lancaster City Police Department, after a woman came forward stating that she had allegedly seen a video on Craig’s phone in which he was masturbating in the presence of a prepubescent female child. The woman also told investigators she had seen multiple videos on the same phone showing Craig repeatedly sexually fondling an elderly woman inside of his vehicle, at locations later determined to be Lansdale Borough, Norristown and West Norriton Township in Montgomery County, police said.
Investigators secured the phone and after serving a search warrant, they recovered nine videos depicting Craig sexually fondling the elderly victim’s chest, genitals, and backside inside of his vehicle, spanning the period from September 2020 through June 2021, according to charging documents.
Montgomery County Detectives took over the case in May 2022, at which point they identified the victim as a 70-year-old woman living in the Souderton section of Franconia Township. Police said the victim is blind, deaf, and mute as a result of her illnesses, and was receiving 24-hour at-home nursing care at the time of the alleged indecent assaults.
One of the certified nursing assistants who was providing care for the victim was identified as Craig’s girlfriend, and when contacted by investigators, she stated that she and Craig would take the victim out of the residence on occasion to pick up food, the report states. The girlfriend also acknowledged leaving the victim in the vehicle alone with Craig while she would run into a business to pick up food, police said.
When interviewed by police, Craig allegedly confirmed the elderly woman in the vehicle was a client of his girlfriend and added his girlfriend was unaware of his conduct. Craig added that he had only assaulted the victim on one occasion, and when pressed for further details, stated it was too far back to remember, police said.
Charges in Montgomery County were officially filed against Craig on June 30, and he was taken into custody and arraigned on July 12 by District Judge Edward Kropp, who set bail at $150,000 cash. A bail review hearing held several days later increased bail to $500,000 cash. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Sept. 12 at 10:45 a.m. in front of District Judge Albert Augustine.
Craig is also facing felony charges in Lancaster of unlawful contact with a minor – sex offenses, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility and related child pornography offenses.
The girlfriend’s name is being withheld as she has not been charged in connection with the investigation. North Penn Now has confirmed the girlfriend no longer works at the same facility and no longer has access to the victim.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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