Delco man faces jail for indecent contact with underage girl
NORRISTOWN » A Delaware County man is facing time behind bars in Montgomery County after he admitted to having indecent contact with an underage girl in Lansdale.
Patrick Michael Connelly, 47, of the 300 block of South Church Street, Clifton Heights, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court this week to 9 to 23 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault of a person less than 13, corruption of a minor and unlawful contact or communication with a minor in connection with incidents that occurred in Lansdale in 2017.
The girl was between 10- and 11-years-old at the time of the incidents, according to court papers.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, ordered Connelly to turn himself in at the Montgomery County jail in Lower Providence on Aug. 1 to begin serving the period of incarceration. Connelly will be eligible for the jail’s work release program during his stint behind bars.
Rothstein also ordered Connelly to complete five years’ probation following parole, meaning Connelly will be under court supervision for about seven years.
Connelly also faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Connelly must undergo a psychosexual evaluation and comply with all recommendations for treatment, the judge added.
The judge ordered Connelly to have no contact with the victim and other minors, excluding his biological children.
The investigation began on March 31, 2020, when law enforcement officials received a ChildLine referral regarding reports that Connelly touched the underage girl in an inappropriate manner while she was in his company at a Lansdale residence, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lansdale Detective
Joel Greco.
ChildLine is a statewide child protective services program under the Department of Human Services that accepts child abuse reports and transmits the information to the appropriate investigating agency.
The victim subsequently was interviewed by child social workers at the Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center and disclosed that Connelly touched her body in an indecent manner on several occasions while she was in his company in Lansdale.