Brock Tharp, 31, of Bally. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)
Brock Isaac Tharp, of Pottstown and Bally, pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault in December, in connection with the Aug. 29, 2023 incident
The second of five men accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old Upper Gwynedd boy in 2023 has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison.
Brock Isaac Tharp, 32, of the 700 block of Logan Street, Pottstown, and the 600 block of Main Street, Bally, pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault in December, in connection with the Aug. 29, 2023 incident.
Charges of rape of a child, indecent assault of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault of a minor and corruption of a minor are expected to be dismissed at sentencing, per The Reporter.
Tharp was given 4½ to 9 years in a state prison and must report his address to police for the rest of his life to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
According to The Mercury, Judge William R. Carpenter, who accepted the sentencing agreement reached between prosecutors and the defense, also ordered Tharp to complete three years’ probation following parole, meaning Tharp will be under court supervision for 12 years.
Tharp faced up to 20 years in prison on the statutory sexual assault charge.
According to the report, Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel sought the state prison term against Tharp.
“It was a 30-something-year-old man who took advantage of a 12-year-old child. He should not have put the child in that situation and taken advantage of the child,” Deckel said in the article.
Tharp's defense lawyer Brendan Campbell said Tharp is remorseful in the report.
“He was very remorseful from the beginning of this, and that’s the reason why he never wanted to contest anything. He accepts responsibility,” said Campbell, adding that at the time of the incident, Tharp was dealing with drug addiction issues, per the article. “Certainly, he wasn’t making sound decisions at the time when he did this.”
The parents gave a statement to the judge, according to the article:
“As parents, there is nothing more devastating than seeing your child struggle with trauma and anxiety so overwhelming that it can be paralyzing. Every single day, our son battles fear and uncertainty, robbed of the sense of safety and security that every child deserves. The impact of what he has endured affects every aspect of his life – his ability to trust, to engage in daily activities and to simply experience the joys of childhood. Our son is not the same person he was before this happened and he never will be.”
The victim, now 13, said the following statement in court:
“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 boy wrote. “Some days, I can’t help but scream and cry because of how badly I’ve been hurt. A part of me died that day, it was my ability to feel safe in this world. I will never be able to reclaim that.
Investigators learned that the boy had engaged in sexual communications with Tharp, and the two arranged to meet on Aug. 29, 2023. In a forensic interview with Mission Kids, the boy stated Tharp had picked him up and drove to a different location, where they had sex in Tharp’s vehicle, the report states. The following day, the boy contacted Tharp to retrieve a personal item left in the vehicle, as well as to arrange another meeting, however the second meeting never took place and Tharp stopped responding to the boy’s messages for a period, police said.
Communication resumed in January after investigators reached out to Tharp using an undercover phone number and posing as the boy, court records show. At that point, sexual communication resumed, and Tharp allegedly discussed the first meeting while requesting some photos of the boy, according to charging documents.
Joseph Slover, 25, of the 300 block of Erie Drive, Towamencin, was the first man convicted in the case, getting a six-year state prison sentence and having to register as a sex offender for the next 25 years.
Joseph Slover, 24, of Towamencin. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)Additional defendants include 24-year-old Nicholas Benotto of Doylestown, 21-year-old Tristan Anderson of Upper Providence, and 25-year-old Daniel Nixon, of Hatfield.
Nicholas Benotto, 25, of Doylestown. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)
Tristan Anderson, 21, of Upper Providence. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)
Daniel Nixon, 25, of Hatfield. (Credit: Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department)The initial investigation
As originally reported by North Penn Now in April, the investigation began on Sept. 7, 2023 when a 12-year-old boy was reported missing to Upper Gwynedd Police. Officials said a review of the boy’s iPad showed he had been involved in sexual communications with Benotto, and the two had agreed to meet at the time the boy was last seen.
While driving with the boy, Benotto was contacted by a family member who informed him that police wanted to speak with him regarding the boy’s whereabouts, investigators said. Benotto then drove to the William Penn Inn, where police took custody of the boy and conducted a preliminary investigation with Benotto, according to the criminal complaint.
Benotto told investigators that he met the boy on the Grindr dating app the previous day, with the boy claiming to be 18 years old, police said. Benotto added he and the boy 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 didn’t know the boy was 12 years old, and messages sent by Benotto to the boy included “Can you prove your age,” “How old are you,” and “School id, or something,” according to charging documents. Benotto also claimed the boy said he had lost his wallet and driver’s license, so he was unable to verify his age, police said.
Benotto was charged with felony counts of attempted statutory sexual assault, possession of child pornography, solicitation of child pornography, and corruption of minors. He’s currently free on $100,000 cash bail while awaiting his preliminary hearing on Sept. 5 at 10 a.m. in front of Judge Suzan Leonard.
Additional suspects identified as investigation continued
As the investigation unfolded, police said they conducted a forensic download of the boy’s phone and iPad, which allegedly showed additional sexual communications with other men, including Slover, Anderson and Tharp.
Nixon was charged in August. Read more on the case involving Nixon here.
Slover, Anderson, and Tharp were all arrested in the spring as part of the investigation. You can read more on the allegations against those three defendants here, and our coverage of Slover's guilty plea to statutory sexual assault here.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
