Sex ‘predator’ who posed as cop sentencd to long jail term
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Scranton man convicted in June on one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than
16 years old was sentenced Monday to serve 36 to 75 months in a state prison.
Bryce Alexander Phillips, 21, will also serve nine years of consecutive state probation and register as a sexual offender for life under the sentence handed down by Common Pleas Court Judge James Bradley.
Phillips previously pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, corruption of minors and impersonating a public servant for posing as a police officer, but proceeded to trial on the involuntary deviate sexual intercourse charge under a “mistake of age” defense. A bench trial was held in early March on the single involuntary deviate sexual intercourse count following Phillip’s pleas to the other charges and Bradley handed down the verdict in June.
A Montgomery County teenager had also alleged that Phillips raped her at his home when she was 15 years old. Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher said those allegations were later folded into this case for a global resolution.
Phillips was arrested in March
2019 after a 14-year-old he met in a local LGBT+ youth group reported that he had forced her to perform oral sex on him. Investigators serving a search warrant at his mother’s home in December 2018 also seized a cell phone that contained five digital images depicting nude, sexually explicit prepubescent females.
Phillips testified at trial that he had been attending the support group off and on for several years when the victim joined in April or May of 2018. The girl identified herself as 14 years old, but Phillips, then 19, said she secretly told him that she was actually 16. He said she lied about being 14 so that people would not hit on her.
Phillips said he researched the age of consent for Pennsylvania and found 16 was permissible for a sexual relationship as long as the other person was not more than four years older.
After taking the victim to play mini-golf in June 2018, Phillips said he broached a possible sexual encounter. He said he pulled his car over and the two engaged in about five seconds of consensual oral sex, which he stopped because he sensed she was uncomfortable.
An affidavit of probable cause indicates Phillips told the victim he would have her involuntarily committed if she did not perform oral sex on him. The victim acquiesced as Phillips held her head down, according to the affidavit, and afterward “ghosted” Phillips.
The victim did not testify under a stipulation between Godshall and Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher, but Detective Mark Bucci of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division said that the girl told him the sexual encounter was not consensual and that Phillips was “well aware” of her true age.
Dan Farley, the support group’s founder, also testified that the other group members were aware that the victim, who had attended approximately four sessions, was 14 years old.
The Montgomery County teen also reported that Phillips forced her to perform oral sex on him at a park in Narberth and that he had hit her and pressured her to perform oral sex on him at his home in Springfield.
The teen said that during another incident at Phillips’ house, he began to hit her and called her names because she did not want to have sex with him. The victim relented, but afterward decided to break off her relationship with him. He continued to text, harass and intimidate her by stating he was a police officer.
Both victims gave impact statements Monday condemning Phillips as a manipulator who had preyed upon them and described the resulting psychological fallout, including thoughts of or attempts at suicide, hospitalizations and depression.
“I was held down by the weight of knowing that I was naïve enough to get myself into that situation,” said the Montgomery County teen. “I blamed myself for so long because I thought it was my fault for going out that day, for talking to him and for ignoring the warnings of my friends.”
She said that she now realizes she is strong and brave, and hoped that one day Phillips would understand that rape is wrong.
The victim who was the subject of the trial said that she was dealing with mental health issues at the time she knew Phillips and considered herself weak, but now knows she is stronger than him.
“You instilled fear into my heart that will never vanish,” she said. “I hope this sentencing shows you the same fear back – no mercy, because I didn’t get any either.”
Phillips began reading a statement to the court before he was overcome with emotion. He said that as a victim of sexual abuse himself, he used images of child pornography to make himself feel better. He also said that he had stopped taking his medication so that he could get into the police academy and that he told people he was an officer as a way of “masking” his autism and to appear more desirable as a friend, not to intimidate.
Gallaher had sought a sentence of five to 10 years with five years of probation, arguing Phillips preyed specifically on underage girls in vulnerable mental states using threats, physical force and his apparent position of authority.
“He was able to manipulate, he was able to coerce them and he was able to overpower them because of that vulnerability, because of their age,” she said.
Godshall argued Phillips’ autism was at the heart of his behavior, not sexual deviance, and that his status as a possible target in prison should be taken into account. He noted Phillips has not had any further contact with law enforcement since his arrest.
Phillips’ mother also spoke at length about her son’s various diagnoses, noting he had sought immediate treatment from a number of different therapists upon his release on bail and that society would best be served by allowing him to continue that treatment rather than locking him away. She said he had been the victim of sexual assault while at the county prison and often had his commissary stolen.
Bradley said he had sentenced in the mitigated range due to Phillips’ age, the fact that this was his first and only contact with the legal system, his number of emotional and mental health issues, his cooperation in the case and the fact that he had been a victim of sexual assault in the past.
Phillips, who has been on electronic home monitoring for more than a year, was ordered to provide a DNA sample to state police, forfeit any electronic devices involved in the case, and have no contact with minors or the victims.
He is not eligible for early release, but was given credit for about a month of time served.