A registered sex offender from Penllyn will head to trial next month on charges of invasion of privacy, following a 10-month investigation by the Montgomery Township Police Department.
James Dirk Roberts, 57, was arrested in May 2021 on eight counts of invasion of privacy, after investigators alleged he took revealing photos of unsuspecting women across Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties, then uploaded the images with sexually suggestive text to Google reviews.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began in July 2020 when Montgomery Township Police received a report by phone in reference to an individual who had taken photos of a female employee at a local business without her permission. The photos were of the victim’s breasts and cleavage while she was at work, and the suspect had attached the images to a Google review of her employer.
The review read:
“I love the [store name]! There are so many [items] to see. Some young and fresh, some aged and matured…equally magnificent! The staff is careless enough to allow me ample opportunities to make myself abreast of the stock. Customer service I received from [victim’s name] was amazing! She knew exactly what I was looking for and she showed me almost everything I wanted. [Victim] made sure to put her heart into her job and she bent over many times so she could present to me the properly aged [items] I was looking for.” (Note: bracketed statements have been inserted by the editor to obfuscate identifying information about the victim and where they worked.)
In an interview with police, the victim stated that she was unaware that the photos were being taken.
After locating the user account, investigators said they found dozens of similar reviews and hundreds of photos of victims between the ages of 13-to-70-years-old. The images depicted the victims in various states of undress, as well as in settings where they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, police said.
Prior to the investigation, Roberts had been on the sex offender registry for approximately 10 years. Records indicate Roberts was convicted of possession of child pornography in another state on April 6, 2006, and his registry in Pennsylvania began on May 11, 2011.
Roberts is scheduled to head to trial on Oct. 31 at 9 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courthouse. He is currently free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
(All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.)
See also:
Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to PCP-Fueled Fight with Police on Thanksgiving 2020
Sellersville Man Pleads Guilty to Charges Stemming from June 2021 Drug Raid in Perkasie
Towamencin Man Headed to Prison After Pleading Guilty to Pair of Bank Robberies
School Bus Driver from North Wales Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Possession
Former Bucks Community College Professor Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography
