Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Meet Teen Girl for Sex

Keith Heffintrayer | North Penn Now•

A Lansdale man is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to attempting to meet a teen girl for sex, only to learn that the teen was an undercover detective.

Ian Horrocks, 45, of the 100 block of Saint Elmo Street, was scheduled for a jury trial on Jan. 16, however he struck an open guilty plea agreement with prosecutors, in which he pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age. In exchange, all remaining charges against Horrocks were dropped, according to a report by Carl Hessler Jr. at The Reporter.

An open guilty plea means there is no sentencing recommendation between Horrocks and prosecutors, meaning the judge will ultimately determine Horrocks’ sentence.

The report states that sentencing was deferred so officials can conduct a background check on Horrocks, who was also ordered to undergo drug, alcohol, mental health and psychosexual evaluations. Hessler’s report also indicates that, regardless of sentence, Horrocks will face a lifetime registration requirement under Megan’s Law.

Horrocks faces a maximum of six years in prison on the charge. He’s currently being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000 cash bail while awaiting sentencing, court records show.

In April 2023, detectives from the Lansdale Borough Police Department and Montgomery County Detective Bureau launched a proactive investigation on multiple social media platforms in an attempt to identify and arrest child sex predators. During the evening of April 19, 2023, an undercover detective assuming the role of a 14-year-old girl was contacted by Horrocks and the two began a conversation over several hours that turned sexual in nature, according to charging documents.

Chat logs included in the affidavit of probable cause show Horrocks expressed concern on several occasions that the chat could be a setup and referenced that an adult male could be arrested for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. After expressing those concerns, however, Horrocks sent a message indicating he was "up for meeting” the teen for sex, and detectives arranged the meeting at a predetermined location later that evening, police said.

Upon Horrocks’ arrival at the meet location, a member of the surveillance team took him into custody, and he was transported to the Lansdale Police Station for an interview, police said. During that interview, Horrocks allegedly confessed to communicating with a 14-year-old girl on social media and via text message and said he had gone to the predetermined location to meet the teen, according to charging documents.