Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DA: Police standoff suspect raped young girl
LIMERICK >> Montgomery County authorities have announced charges against a man they say raped a young girl and was involved in a seven-hour standoff with police last week.
Bryan M. Monica, 29, of Limerick Township, faces felony rape and statutory sexual assault charges as well as involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, photographing a sex act of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and carrying a firearm without a license, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
Monica also faces multiple charges related to raping and sexually assaulting a young girl over the course of four years and forcing a standoff with police on Jan. 6, according a press release issued Thursday.
An investigation revealed Monica had allegedly sexually assaulted the girl multiple times from when she was 9 years old until she was 13 years old, according to the release. The victim, who knew Monica, confided to a school counselor, who then alerted the Limerick Township Police on Jan. 5. While the victim was being interviewed at Mission Kids, Monica drove to the house where she and the girl’s mother lived and parked outside, carrying a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said.
Officers responded to the scene on Masters Drive but the defendant, later identified as Monica, refused to exit the car and displayed the weapon, including threatening to commit suicide before surrendering seven hours later.
Police and SWAT teams from several area departments took up posts on the 200 block of Masters Drive in Limerick. Two SWAT teams surrounded the vehicle, and, after speaking with negotiators, the man surrendered peacefully.
During the standoff, police asked residents in the neighborhood to shelter in place, while school buses and those trying to return home were directed to a warm place inside the Limerick Township Building.
Monica was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki Jr., who set bail at $500,000 cash. He was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. in front of Judge Gadzicki.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Price.