Man admits to indecent contact with child in Lower Gwynedd
NORRISTOWN >> A Massachusetts man faces six years of court supervision plus a psychosexual evaluation after he admitted to having indecent contact with a 5-year-old girl in Lower Gwynedd more than a decade ago.
Matthew Devries, 32, of Whitinsville, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to six years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of corruption of a minor and indecent assault in connection with an August 2006 incident at a residence on West Welsh Road in the Ambler section of Lower Gwynedd.
Devries was 19 years old at the time of the incident and the girl was 5, according to a criminal complaint.
Devries knew the girl’s family at the time of the incident.
Judge Gary S. Silow, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Devries to undergo a psychosexual evaluation as a condition of the sentence. The judge ordered Devries to have no contact with the victim or her family.
Devries also faces a 15year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.
An investigation of Devries began in October 2018, when Lower Gwynedd police received a report regarding Devries’ indecent contact with the girl in August 2006 while he visited a residence on West Welsh Road. Court papers indicate the girl told her parents that Devries touched her in an indecent manner while she was in his company.
Devries initially denied touching the girl when he was confronted by the girl’s parents. However, Devries, several years later, confessed to others that he had inappropriate contact with the girl, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Gwynedd Police Officer Beth Sanborn.
The allegations also were reported to the Northbridge
Police Department in Massachusetts, according to the criminal complaint.
In October 2018, the victim underwent a forensic interview and disclosed that Devries had indecent contact with her in 2006.
Other charges of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor and indecent exposure were dismissed against Devries as part of the plea agreement.