Man accused of trying to luring a teen for sex
A Philly man allegedly used the social media app Instagram to groom and attempt to lure a juvenile to meet him for sex.
ABINGTON » A Philadelphia man must answer to charges in Montgomery County Court that he allegedly used the social media app Instagram to groom and attempt to lure a juvenile to meet him for sex in Abington Township.
Geonattan Ismael Fabiani, 30, of the 5400 block of Montague Street, waived his preliminary hearing before District Court Judge Juanita Price of Jenkintown on charges of attempted statutory sexual assault, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted indecent assault, distributing obscene or sexually related materials to a minor, corruption of a minor, possessing child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between May 2 and June 4.
Price set bail at $99,000 cash, which Fabiani was unable to post bail and he will remain in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to await a pretrial hearing in county court later this year.
The investigation began on May 2, when Abington police received information regarding an adult attempting to lure a 15-yearold male over the internet while using the social media app Instagram, according to the criminal complaint filed by Abington Township detectives Rick Beaghley and Jeff Anderson.
“This communication was sexual in nature and discovered by an adult family member,” Anderson and Beaghley, who also has been sworn as a special county detective for the purpose of investigating internet crimes against children, wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Detectives alleged the victim’s social media account specifically listed the boy’s age as “15 going on 16,” according to court papers. Detectives reviewed the messages in which Fabiani allegedly asked the boy for nude photographs and the pair did exchange multiple nude photographs, according to the arrest affidavit.
Fabiani allegedly pressed to meet the teenage boy for sex and asked the boy to meet him near Fabiani’s residence.
Following the report to police, Abington detectives took control of the teenager’s Instagram account and began conversing with Fabiani while posing as the teenager, according to court papers. Over the course of several weeks, Fabiani continued to solicit sex during the conversations with the undercover detective and stated he wanted to meet the boy, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives developed Fabiani as a suspect from images he sent to the juvenile.
Fabiani subsequently agreed to meet who he believed was the teenage boy at a location in the 200 block of Township Line Road in the Jenkintown section of Abington, according to court documents. Detectives moved in and arrested Fabiani at the meeting location.
When he was questioned by detectives, Fabiani admitted to using his Instagram account to communicate with whom he believed was a 15 year old boy, to sending nude images to the juvenile and to trying to meet the boy for sex, according to the criminal complaint.
At the time of Fabiani’s arrest, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele warned that those who prey on children know that cellphones are in the hands of teenagers and that they are easy ways to reach out to teens and children without parents being aware.
“Parents need to be vigilant and aware of who their children are in communications with as well as talk to their kids about these types of attempts,” Steele said at the time.
Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth, captain of the district attorney’s family protection unit, is prosecuting the case. Defense lawyer Patrick Timothy Duffy is representing Fabiani, according to court records.