Sex sting leads to jail term for man

NORRISTOWN » A Pottstown man who admitted to attempting to have inappropriate contact with a minor will be under court supervision for several years.

Ian Sidney Jalbert, 47, of the 600 block of North Keim Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of unlawful contact or communication with a minor in connection with incidents that occurred between April and May 2017.

Common Pleas Court Judge Gail A. Weilheimer also ordered Jalbert to complete three years’ probation following parole, mean-

ing Jalbert will be under court supervision for about five years.

The judge said Jalbert must comply with all treatment recommendations stemming from a psychosexual evaluation. Jalbert is prohibited from using social media to contact minors, the judge said.

Jalbert also faces a 25year requirement to report his address to state police as a result of his conviction.

An investigation of Jalbert began April 28, 2017, after undercover Upper Providence police conducting investigations related to the illegal solicitation

of minors for sexual contact came across a Craigslist advertisement linked to Jalbert, according to the criminal complaint. A detective replied to the advertisement while posing as a 14-year-old boy and within minutes, Jalbert responded to the detective’s email with a request for explicit photos, according to the criminal complaint.

Detectives said communication with Jalbert continued over the course of a week through email and text messaging. On multiple occasions during the conversations the detective stated that he was 14 years old, according to the arrest affidavit.

Jalbert allegedly continued to send sexually explicit messages and eventually

arranged a meeting for May 3 at the Providence Town Center in Upper Providence. Jalbert communicated he would pick up the boy at the shopping center and then take the boy back to his residence for a sexual encounter, according to the criminal complaint.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on May 3, Jalbert arrived at the Providence Town Center. The undercover detective, posing as the teenage boy, texted Jalbert that he had arrived on a bicycle and had parked it on the east side of the complex, according to court documents.

Detectives observed Jalbert exit his vehicle and walk toward a bike that detectives used as a prop. Authorities then moved in and arrested Jalbert at 10:20

a.m.

A person commits the crime of unlawful contact or communication with

a minor when they intentionally contact or communicate with a minor, or a law enforcement official assuming the identity of a minor, for the purpose of engaging in prohibited sexual activity.