NEW HANOVER TOWNSHIP, PA – Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and New Hanover Township Police Chief Kevin McKeon announce the arrest of Jonathan Faucette, 55, of Perkasie, Pa., on multiple felony charges related to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, whom he met on an online chat platform.
On May 18, 2021, New Hanover Township Police received a ChildLine report by a mandated reporter that the girl had disclosed a sexual encounter with an older, married man. The ensuing investigation found that the defendant and the girl had met through the online chat and video platform Omegle. They then began messaging through Instagram, using his account called “bigwhale1066.” On May 7, 2021, they agreed to meet at a New Hanover Township park, where the defendant spread a blue blanket in an adjacent wooded area and then sexually assaulted the girl through intercourse as well as other sex acts.
Police served search warrants on Facebook for the records related to the Instagram account, which provided IP addresses for the account from Comcast and Verizon. The two accounts were then traced to the residence in Perkasie, where Faucette lived. A search of the defendant’s home and car found a blue blanket and other evidence consistent with the victim’s account of assault.
“The online world is a serious threat to young girls and boys since its anonymity makes it attractive to sexual predators. This defendant was preying on young girls on a website/app called Omegle, which markets itself as ‘Talk to Strangers! There are some very cool people in the world,” said DA Steele. “Omegle has come under fire before for not verifying the ages of any user or monitoring the communications on its platform as it matches users with random strangers to have one-on-one chats. Parents need to make sure they talk to their kids about the dangers in using this kind of a platform, how people can lie about who they are and above all, the danger of meeting someone in real life who they have only talked to online. Stranger danger is real online.”
Faucette was charged with felony Statutory Sexual Assault, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, Corruption of Minors, Unlawful Contact With Minors, Criminal Use of Communications Facility and other related charges. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Henry J. Nesbitt III, who set bail at $500,000 cash, with additional conditions of no contact with victim, no contact with juveniles and no internet usage. The defendant was unable to post bail and was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m., July 27, 2021 before Magisterial District Judge Maurice Saylor.