Horsham Man Lured Girls For Sex On Facebook: Police

HORSHAM, PA — A 27-year-old Horsham man is under arrest after authorities say he used Facebook to lure a 15-year-old girl into having sex with him and tried to get girls as young as 14 to send him sexually explicit photographs.

Richard Blong is charged with statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual abuse of children and other charges after having sex with the girl, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office announced.

According to the DA's office, Facebook tipped off the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force on Sept. 27 regarding a possible case of child pornography and exploitation. According to the tip, Blong had tried to get three girls, between 14 and 17, to send him pornographic images.

Montgomery County and Horsham Police began investigating and say they found that Blong had sexually explicit conversations with the three girls and exchanged sexual photographs with them. All three of the girls' ages were displayed on their Facebook profiles, investigators say.

In August, Blong met one of the girls at his home in Horsham and they had sex, the DA's office said. The other two do not live in Pennsylvania and never met Blong in person, according to investigators.

"Predators know the seemingly private natures of cellphone use by children and teens and their various social media accounts. And predators seek to use those friendly platforms to take advantage of children," said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. "Parents need to be vigilant in monitoring their children's activity, keep an eye out for anything suspicious and reiterate to their children that they should not communicate with unknown adults on these platforms."

Blong was arraigned before Magisterial Court District Judge Patricia Zaffarano, who set bail at $100,000. Unable to pay 10 percent of that, Blong was held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for Oct. 17.

Photo courtesy Montgomery County District Attorney's office