Man faces jail for trying to meet minor for sex
A Philadelphia man was caught during a sting operation trying to meet who he believed was an underage girl.
NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man has some jail time in his future after he was caught during a sting operation trying to meet who he believed was an underage girl for sex in East Norriton.
Treavor Zachary Jones, 30, of the 800 block of North 15th Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 6 to 12 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted statutory sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred in October 2017.
Judge Richard P. Haaz ordered Jones to report to the jail in Lower Providence on Feb. 17, 2020, to begin serving the sentence. Jones will receive credit for the month he previously spent in jail while awaiting court action on the charges, court documents indicate.
Jones also must complete four years’ probation following parole, meaning he will be under court supervision for five years. Jones will be under sex offender supervision during his parole and probationary periods.
The judge said Jones is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration.
The investigation of Jones began on Oct. 9, 2017, when an undercover East Norriton detective working with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force responded to a sexually explicit online advertisement that had been placed by Jones.
During subsequent online communications, the undercover detective posed as a 14-year-old girl and Jones engaged in sexually explicit conversations with who he believed was a teenage girl, according to the criminal complaint filed by East Norriton Detective Michael D. Henricks.
Jones suggested that the pair meet for a sexual encounter and a meeting was arranged for Oct. 10 on a parking lot in the 100 block of West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, according to the criminal complaint. Detectives placed the area under surveillance.
Jones arrived at the parking lot at 6:07 p.m. in his vehicle and he texted his location to who he believed was the 14-year-old girl, court papers alleged. At that time, detectives moved in and took Jones into custody.
“In his statement, Jones admitted that he was the one who had posted the mentioned ad and had been the one communicating with the undercover account,” Henricks alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Other charges of unlawful contact or communication with a minor, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility and attempted indecent assault of a minor were dismissed against Jones at the sentencing hearing.
During subsequent online communications, the undercover detective posed as a 14-year-old girl and Jones engaged in sexually explicit conversations with who he believed was a teenage girl, according to the criminal complaint filed by East Norriton Detective Michael D. Henricks.