Retired Bensalem Cop Extorted, Stalked Ex-Girlfriend: Police

BENSALEM, PA — A retired police officer from Bensalem was arrested this month on charges that he stalked an ex-girlfriend, accessed private files on her cellphone and forced her to have sex with him and send him money.

Gregory DiPaolo, 59, of Bensalem, has been charged with criminal coercion, stalking, harassment and other crimes, according to a police affidavit filed earlier this month.

According to the affidavit, a woman went to the FBI office in Philadelphia in January to report that DiPaolo, who was her former boyfriend, was extorting and stalking her. She said they had a casual romantic relationship for a few years beginning in 2013.

In 2016, she told the FBI, she ended the romantic relationship but remained on friendly terms with DiPaolo. But in early 2017, she said, he showed up at her workplace to talk with her. By this time, she was involved in another relationship and did not want any contact with DiPaolo.

During that meeting, according to the affidavit, DiPaolo told the woman that one of her co-workers had accessed her cellphone and could transfer files, including compromising videos and photos, from it.

He allegedly told her the files were "in jeopardy" of being sent to her children, other family members and friends but that he had a friend who works for the FBI who could use a cybersecurity app to stop it.

In a later conversation, the affidavit states, DiPaolo told the woman that if she dated him again and had sex with him, he could keep the compromising images and videos from being sent. She told the FBI that DiPaolo wrote up a "contract."

She said the terms of the contract included the woman having to meet up with DiPaolo once or twice a week, go to Atlantic City with him once every three months, have sex with DiPaolo and others, send him sexual videos and pay him money.

She told the FBI she paid DiPaolo $500 for the "cyber-block"and made two $260 payments to him over the course of several months in 2018. She told the FBI she was forced to take money from her daughter's bank account to keep up with the payments.

During that time, she said, she would meet to have sex with DiPaolo at a trailer he owns on Dunksferry Road in Bensalem.

According to the affidavit, it appeared that DiPaolo did, in fact, have access to files from the woman's phone. On one occasion, she said, DiPaolo sent her a video recorded on her phone that she had never shared with anyone.

In December 2018, she said, she stopped having contact with DiPaolo. Then, she said, he drove to her home and sent her a video he had recorded on her street.

The affidavit was filed with Bensalem Township Police on Sept. 5. According to court documents, that was the day he was arrested and released on $100,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing in the case was set for Tuesday.

Charges against DiPaolo include harassment, stalking, coercion and theft by deception.