D.A.: Man sexually assaults 6-year-old
44-year-old suspect a registered sex offender in Pa.
A Montgomery County man who is a registered sex offender in Pennsylvania has been arrested on charges he molested a 6-year-old girl in early March while she was sleeping in a Colebrookdale Township home, Berks County detectives said Thursday.
Michael Forte, 44, Upper Pottsgrove Township, was apprehended without incident by township police on Wednesday after detectives obtained an arrest warrant.
He was transported to the Berks County Courthouse, arraigned by District Judge Ky- ley Scott and committed to the county prison in lieu of $150,000 bail on charges of indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.
According to Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar:
On March 10, the Colebrookdale Township Police Department — now the Eastern Berks Regional Police Department — responded to a residence for a report of a sexual assault on a 6-yearold girl.
The victim disclosed to the officer that, while sleeping on the couch, she was molested by the defendant. After learning police were called, Forte fled the residence.
Police filed a ChildLine report and contacted the Berks detectives with the district attorney’s office.
On March 11, detectives interviewed the girl’s mother. The mother told police that she had confronted Forte who then asked the girl, “Why did
you go tell?”
On March 12, a forensic interview with the youngster was conducted at the
Children’s Alliance Center in Reading. She disclosed she had been sleeping on the couch and Forte molested her.
On March 23, detectives conducted another interview with the mother. She disclosed receiving text messages from Forte that read “I don’t know what is wrong with me” and “I never wished of hurting her.”
Detectives said Forte was “already a Megan’s Law lifetime registrant.” Details of earlier cases were not available.
The “Mask Up, Montco” campaign was launched on Wednesday, the same day Gov. Tom Wolf signed an order making masks mandatory in all public spaces. The order signed by state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine under the Disease Prevention and Control Act mandates that face coverings must be worn whenever anyone leaves home, including outdoors in situations where social distancing is impossible.
Previous state orders only required the wearing of masks by customers and employees inside businesses.
“This mask-wearing order is essential to stopping the recent increase in COVID-19 cases we have seen in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in a press release. “Those hot spots can be traced to situations where Pennsylvanians were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing – two practices that must be adhered to if we want to maintain the freedoms we have in place under our reopening.”
The state order outlines the situations when a mask must be worn and includes limited exceptions to the face-covering requirement.
Under the order, individuals are required to wear face coverings if they are: outdoors and unable to consistently maintain a distance of six feet from others who are not members of their household; in any indoor location where members of the public are permitted; waiting for, riding on, driving, or operating public transportation or paratransit or while in a taxi, private car service or ride-sharing vehicle; obtaining services from health care providers; and engaged in work, whether at the workplace or performing work offsite, when interacting inperson with any member of the public.
“It is essential that Pennsylvanians wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Levine said. “While cases increase in some areas, we cannot become complacent. My mask protects you, and your mask protects me. Wearing a mask shows that you care about others, and that you are committed to protecting the lives of those around you.”
Arkoosh said many local business owners are working “incredibly hard to make their business or restaurant safe.”
“But if you walk into a business or you walk into a restaurant that does not appear to be following the governor’s guidance, please take your business elsewhere. I can promise you that there are many establishments that have invested a lot of money and are working very hard to get this right and they’re the ones that deserve your business,” Arkoosh said.
“The people that are flaunting the guidance and saying that this is all made up and that none of this matters, they don’t deserve your business. So please take your business to a place that’s doing it right,” Arkoosh said.
This week, national health experts again called for mask wearing. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a June 30 Senate hearing on COVID-19, that Americans who don’t wear masks may propagate the further spread of infection.
“We have to stand together as a community to get through these challenging next months until we have a vaccine. But I know that we can do it because you have proven that over and over and over again during the past 17 weeks,” Arkoosh addressed county residents during a news briefing on Wednesday. “If we stick together, we will get through this.”