Man faces jail for sex with underage girl
NORRISTOWN » A Lower Gwynedd man faces some time behind bars after he admitted to having sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl when he was 20 years old.
Ryan Matthew Torie, now 21, of the 1200 block of Wellsley Court, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to five-to-10-months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of statutory sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred between May and June 2017. Judge Gary S. Silow ordered Torie to report to the jail on June 12 to begin serving the sentence.
The judge also ordered Torie to complete five years’ probation following parole, meaning Torie will be under court supervision for a total of nearly six years.
The judge said that after Torie serves at least three months in jail he will consider allowing Torie to complete the minimum sentence in the house arrest program. The judge ordered Torie to have no contact with the girl or her family.
Specifically, by pleading guilty to the charge, Torie admitted that he engaged in sexual conduct with the girl at a time when she was under 16 and when he was four or more years older than the girl.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Beeson. Defense lawyer Marc Steinberg represented Torie during the hearing.
An investigation began in July 2017 when Lower Gwynedd police received a tip that Torie had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. The girl subsequently told investigators that she met Torie in January 2017 through a local athletic club and the two exchanged phone numbers and began conversing via SnapChat, a social media application, according to the criminal complaint.
After Torie returned to college, police alleged, the two continued to communicate electronically. The girl advised police she told Torie she was 15 and they spoke about their age differences, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Gwynedd Police Officer Beth Sanborn.
The girl subsequently disclosed she and Torie had sexual relations three or four times between May and June 2017 and other sexual contact at his Lower Gwynedd home, according to the arrest affidavit. Torie and the girl also exchanged nude photos while communicating through SnapChat, police alleged.
When police questioned Torie about the relationship, he admitted that he knew the girl was 15 and that their relationship was illegal because of their age difference. Torie also admitted to having sexual contact with the girl and to exchanging nude photographs, according to the arrest affidavit.
Other charges of unlawful contact or communication with a minor, corruption of a minor and criminal use of a communication facility were dismissed against Torie.