Man Claiming To Be Cop Sexually Assaulted Delco Teenager: DA

MEDIA, PA — Authorities in Delaware County said a Scranton man who claimed to be a police officer in training sexually assaulted a teenager from Media.

Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun M. Copeland announced Bryce Alexander Phillips, 20, of Scranton, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old child.

The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force with assistance from Media Borough Police Department, Lackawanna County Detectives, and the Dickinson City Police Department.

Phillips is facing felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old, felony unlawful contact with a minor, felony possession of child pornography, and felony corruption of minors, the DA's office said.

On July 6, 2018, Media police were dispatched to the report of a sexual assault complaint at an organization that offers support to adolescent youth, according to the DA's office.

Authorities learned that during a meeting at the support group Phillips met the victim, who was 14-years-old at the time, the DA's office said.

Phillips told the group several times that he was in the police academy and had a license to carry a concealed firearm, and later identified himself to the group as a police officer with the Philadelphia Police Department, according to the DA's office

Phillips then allegedly began to contact the victim through texting, calling, Snapchat, and other social media applications, the DA's office said.

Investigation revealed that on June 11, 2018, Phillips picked the 14-year old minor up to play mini-golf where Phillips made sexual remarks and propositioned the victim for oral sex, the DA's office alleges.

Phillips is accused of forcing the victim to perform oral sex and threatened to involuntarily commit victim into a mental health facility, according to the DA's office.

CID Sergeant Kenneth Bellis and Detective Bucci contacted Dickinson City Police Officer Will Bilinski and Lackawanna County Detective Kolcharno, who is also a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

As a result of their efforts, on December 20, 2018, a search warrant was served at Phillips' Lackawanna County residence.

There, detectives seized a cell phone from Phillips, which was analyzed and depicted chat logs and five digital images depicting nude, sexually explicit prepubescent females, the DA's office alleges.

Phillips was arraigned on March 7 and had set bail at 10 percent of $500,000.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 21.