Daniel Nixon, 25, of Hatfield. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)
Daniel Allan Nixon, of the unit block of Park Avenue in Hatfield Township, pleaded guilty to felony statutory sexual assault earlier this year
One of five men who sexually abused a 12-year-old Upper Gwynedd Township child he met on a social media app has been sentenced to two to four years in state prison for his crimes.
Daniel Allan Nixon, 26, of the unit block of Park Avenue in Hatfield Township, pleaded guilty to felony statutory sexual assault earlier this year in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
Nine other felony charges were dismissed against Nixon at his preliminary hearing: Rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, corruption of minors, child pornography, and soliciting child pornography, according to court documents.
“I messed up,” Daniel Allan Nixon told Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill at the July 21 sentencing, according to The Mercury, adding he wishes he could “undo the hurt” that he caused the victim and his family. “I wish I could erase the trauma and shame I put my family through.”
Nixon will be on two years’ consecutive probation.
“You have impacted another person by a traumatic act,” O’Neill addressed Nixon, according to The Mercury.
Nixon will serve his time at State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands in Somerset County, which has services for inmates with special medical needs. The court did not reveal Nixon’s medical conditions.
He will also be required to report his address to state police for 25 years to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law, per the court.
The victim, now 13, wrote that there are limited things he can do “without being triggered.”
“I am not able to go for walks around my neighborhood without having panic attacks and going down streets which remind me of this situation making me not only want to throw up, but give me the most indescribable fear and anxiety,” the victim wrote, according to the article. “Some days I can’t help but scream and cry because of how badly I’ve been hurt.”
According to the criminal complaint, Nixon and the child began communicating on the Grindr app — and later Discord — in August 2023. Police allege the communications were sexual in nature, including Nixon soliciting nude photos of the child, and they agreed to meet in-person the following day.
Nixon picked up the child in his father’s vehicle, and after riding around the neighborhood for a short period, he sexually assaulted the child inside the vehicle, police said. Nixon then said he had to get home to his father, dropped the child off, blocked the child on Discord and never spoke to the youth again.
Police said they traced the digital communications and IP addresses to accounts belonging to Nixon and his home along the unit block of Park Avenue in Hatfield Township. The victim also positively identified Nixon out of a photo lineup as part of the investigation..
The overall investigation began on Sept. 7, 2023 when a 12-year-old child was reported missing to Upper Gwynedd Police.
Officials said a review of the child’s iPad showed he had been involved in sexual communications with 24-year-old Nicholas Benotto, of Doylestown, and the two had agreed to meet at the time the child was last seen.
While driving with the child, Benotto was contacted by a family member who informed him that police wanted to speak with him regarding the child’s whereabouts, investigators said. Benotto then drove to the William Penn Inn, where police took custody of the child and conducted a preliminary investigation with Benotto, according to the criminal complaint.
Benotto told investigators that he met the child on the Grindr dating app the previous day, with the youth claiming to be 18 years old, police said. Benotto added he and the child engaged in sexual communications, sent each other explicit photos, and then agreed to meet, according to charging documents.
Throughout his interviews with police, Benotto maintained he did not know the child was 12 years old, and messages sent by Benotto to the youth included “Can you prove your age,” “How old are you,” and “School id, or something,” according to charging documents. Benotto also claimed the victim said they had lost their wallet and driver’s license, so they were unable to verify their age, police said.
As a result of the investigation, Benotto was charged with felony counts of attempted statutory sexual assault, possession of child pornography, solicitation of child pornography, and corruption of minors.
As the investigation unfolded, police said they conducted a forensic download of the victim’s phone and iPad, which allegedly showed additional sexual communications with other men, including 24-year-old Joseph Slover, of Towamencin, 21-year-old Tristan Anderson, of Upper Providence, and 31-year-old Brock Tharp, of Bally.
Tharp was sentenced to state prison. Slover was sentenced to state prison in November 2024. Anderson awaits sentencing. Benotto was sentenced in May.
Nixon was represented by defense attorney Gregory Mitsch.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
