‘Tinder Trap:’ Man enters plea in teen sex, booze case

On Thursday, Jonathan S. Escobar of Exton pleaded guilty in Common Pleas Court to twin misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to minors. As part of a plea agreement negotiated by the prosecution, Judge Patrick Carmody sentenced Escobar to two years pro

In the 1955 song, “(Love Is) The Tender Trap” a pair of laughing eyes are what lands the singer in a state of euphoria that finds him hooked, cooked, and, ultimately, trapped.

In the case of a West Whiteland man, however, the “Tinder Trap” led him to a pair of teen girls with whom he had sex after meeting them through the social media app and supplying them with alcohol.

On Thursday, Jonathan S. Escobar of Exton pleaded guilty in Common Pleas Court to twin misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to minors. As part of a plea agreement negotiated by the prosecution, Judge Patrick Carmody sentenced Escobar to two years probation.

He will also have to complete 40 hours of community service and compose letters of apology to the two girls involved, who were 17 and 18 years old at the time of the incident.

Defense attorney Thomas H. Ramsay of West Chester told Carmody that his client had never been in trouble with the law previously but had made the grave mistake of giving the girls alcohol when they came to his apartment.

“He’s a good young man who got caught up in Tinder, and the Tinder trap,” Ramsay said in court while presenting the plea agreement to Carmody along with Assistant District Attorney Emily Provencher, of the District Attorney’s Office’s Child Abuse Unit, who prosecuted the case.

Provencher told Carmody that she had met with the two girls and that the mother of the 17-year-old was “disappointed” that weightier charges other than the misdemeanor were not pursued. But as she and the judge noted, it is not a criminal offense for an adult like Escobar, 28, to have sex with a juvenile unless they are under the age of 16.

Provencher said the mother eventually understood that it would not be in her daughter’s best interests to pursue more serious charges against Escobar, although she did not go into specifics. The crimes of sexual assault or indecent assault, which might have been charged, require a lack of consent on the part of the victim.

According to a criminal complaint filed by West Whiteland Detective Michael Buchmann, his department was notified on July 21 of an alleged sexual assault that occurred on Fox Run Road. Provencher said that the dates of the encounter were June 4 through June 5.

During his investigation, Buchmann found that Escobar had given rum and vodka to the two

young girls, who were not identified by name in the complaint. After he was contacted, Escobar came to the police station and gave a voluntary statement on Aug. 4 during which he

admitted that he knew the girls were under 21, but thought both of the were over the age of 18.

Ramsay said that his client had fully cooperated with township police, giving them his phone so they could read text messages sent between the three. He said later that Escobar had met the girls on Tinder,

the popular dating app for young people that uses “swipes” and photos to match singles.

Ramsay said that the former Downingtown West High School student had sacrificed a promising career at Wegman’s Food Markets through his admission of guilt in the matter.

“I have never been in

trouble before in my life,” Escobar told Carmody. “It has been an eye-opening experience. I hope that all is well with the two ladies, and I accept full responsibility for my actions and the consequences.”