Courts.
A Lansdale man nabbed in an undercover child sex predator operation between Lansdale Police and Montgomery County detectives last May received a sentence of three to six years in state prison, after pleading guilty to the crimes in January 2024.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill sentenced Ian Patrick Horrocks, 46, of the 100 block of St. Elmo Street, on Monday in Montgomery County Common Pleas court. Horrocks must also register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law for life.
In January, Horrocks pleaded guilty to felony attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a minor under 16, and all remaining charges against him were dropped in a plea agreement. These charges were unlawful contact or communication with a minor, attempted statutory sexual assault of a minor, attempted corruption of a minor, attempted indecent assault of a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.
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 meeting 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.
