Man Pleads Guilty to Repeated Indecent Assault of Elderly Woman Who is Blind, Deaf and Mute

Keith Heffintrayer | North Penn Now•

Malquan Craig, 24, of Lancaster.

A Lancaster man has pleaded guilty to the repeated indecent assault of a disabled elderly woman who was blind, deaf, and mute, with three of the incidents occurring in Lansdale Borough.

Malquan Craig, 24, pleaded guilty on Oct. 18 to four misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a person with mental disability, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. In exchange, an additional count of the same charge, as well as five counts of indecent assault without consent and five counts of invasion of privacy were dropped as part of the agreement.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Rogers sentenced Craig to 1 to 2 years in prison on each count, with the sentences running consecutively. That means Craig will spend the next 4 to 8 years in state prison, and he has since been transferred to State Correctional Institute Phoenix — formerly known as Graterford Prison.

Additional sentencing notes indicate Craig will have to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and comply with all recommendations, avoid all future contact with the victim, and upon his release, he will have to register as a Tier II sex offender under the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act (SORNA) — formerly known as Megan’s Law.

The investigation began on April 4, 2022, 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 other areas 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 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, 2022.

Charges were also filed against Craig in Lancaster in June 2022 stemming from the initial portion of the investigation, including felony counts 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. Court records show he pleaded guilty to all charges in November 2022 and was subsequently sentenced to 2 to 10 years in prison.

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.