TRAFFICK OFFENSE
ASTON MAN FIRST IN DELCO SENTENCED UNDER TRAFFICKING LAW FOR SEX WITH TEEN
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A 42-year-old Aston man convicted on charges of patronizing a victim of sexual servitude, concealment of whereabouts of a child and corruption of minors in September was sentenced to one to five years in a state prison last week.
Matthew J. Sipps, who was found guilty following a jury trial last year of having a series of sexual encounters with a 16-year-old girl at a motel and later at his home on the 100 block of Sweigart Lane, called his conviction a “great miscarriage of justice.”
Sipps was arrested in December 2016 following a 20-month investigation by Aston and county authorities into allegations that he knowingly held an underage trafficking victim at his home for about a month while having sex with her.
The investigation began in April 23, 2015, when law enforcement in Rhode Island requested assistance in locating the girl. The victim had called her mother about 1 a.m. that morning, asking to be picked up at the Sweigart Lane address. Aston police responded to the home and brought the teen to headquarters, where she described the ordeal that brought her to Aston.
The victim told authorities that she learned she could make money working as an escort on backpage.com and answered an ad placed by an individual named “Jordan” from New Jersey. “Jordan,” later identified as Raymond Justis, took the girl to a hotel for three days, where she had intercourse with him several times.
“After three days, Jordan told (the victim) it was time for her to go to work,” according to the affidavit.
Justis placed an ad on backpage.com for “18-yearold Italian cutie Maria, on a Spring break, looking to go wild” under the “escorts” category for Philadelphia. He was also later charged with one count of sex trafficking by federal indictment. Justis pled guilty in March 2016 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Sipps responded to the ad March 23, 2015, and met with the teen and Justis at a motel in New Jersey on four occasions, according to the affidavit. Sipps and the girl engaged in sex on two of those encounters, according to the girl.
The fourth and final time Sipps came to the motel, the girl said she told him she was a 16-year-old runaway from Rhode Island. Sipps told the victim she “shouldn’t be in the environment she was in,” and wanted to take her to his home, according to the affidavit.
Sipps took the girl to the home he shared with his mother and adult brothers. The teen stayed with Sipps for about a month and had sex several times during that period, according to the affidavit. But the victim told authorities she was isolated from the other people in the house and that Sipps would not allow her to leave, the affidavit states. When Sipps eventually provided the girl with a cell phone, she used it to call her mother and escape the situation.
Sipps, represented by defense attorney Alex Amoroso, was convicted on all three counts following a trial in September before Common Pleas Court Judge James Nilon. President Judge Kevin F. Kelly presided over sentencing.
Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland said Wednesday that Sipps was the first to be sentenced in the county under Pennsylvania’s human trafficking legislation for engaging in a sex act with a victim while knowing that the act was the result of that individual being a victim of human trafficking.
Assistant District Attorney Alan Borowsky asked Kelly for a state sentence, calling Sipps’ interactions with the girl more than a “momentary occurrence.”
“This is not a typical ‘john meets prostitute’ situation,” Borowsky said. “Mr. Sipps … knowing that this child was desperate, without alternatives, without support, took her back to his house under the guise of rescuing her, created an elaborate identity and lie to tell people so that she would not be rescued, so that she would not be found, and continued to hold her there so that he could continue to victimize her.”
The girl did not provide a victim-impact statement because she could not bring herself to have anything more to do with the case, according to Borowsky.
Sipps’ family members, however, described him as a “hero” who had rescued the girl from a life of prostitution.
“My son is the real hero here and he’s being crucified without merit,” said his mother, Nancy Sipps.
Amy Sipps also worried that her brother’s mental health issues would paint a target on his back for other inmates and said a prison sentence would be “a death sentence.”
Amoroso said his client suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizoid-personality disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. He sought a lesser county sentence or time served, noting Sipps’ mother requires significant assistance at home.
In addition to prison time, Sipps was ordered to serve five years of consecutive state probation. Kelly recommended sexual offender treatment while in prison and sex offender probation, and ordered Sipps not to have any contact with the victim or unsupervised contact with minors.
Sipps posted 10 percent of $50,000 cash bail Dec. 5, 2016, but was recommitted following his conviction on 10 percent of $250,000 bail. He was given credit for time served to Sept. 8 and is not eligible for early release.
“Mr. Sipps … knowing that this child was desperate, without alternatives, without support, took her back to his house under the guise of rescuing her, created an elaborate identity and lie to tell people so that she would not be rescued, so that she would not be found, and continued to hold her there so that he could continue to victimize her.” — Assistant District Attorney Alan Borowsky