Accused Murderer Had Prior Incident With 9-Year-Old Victim

Several news outlets have reported and commented on a previous suspicious incident 9-year-old Skyler Kauffman had with her accused murderer, James Lee Troutman. Police were called in the matter, but no charges were filed against Troutman at the time.

According to the documents (see the court documents here) provided by the District Attorney's office, Souderton police had responded to the Souderton Gardens apartment complex April 18 to investigate what the documents call a "suspicious situation" involving Troutman, Kauffman and a female friend of Kauffman's identified only as "P.H."

According to the record of events, the two girls were near Troutman's apartment when they "needed to use the bathroom." Troutman invited them in to use his bathroom, and as he escorted them to it, he commented that they should "ignore the photos" posted on his bathroom wall.

According to the documents, once inside the bathroom, the girls noticed pictures of naked women on the walls. They became nervous and hurried from the bathroom. As they exited the bathroom, Troutman reportedly ask the girls if they wanted to see his "bird." They declined and ran for the door, and, finding it locked, struggled to unlock it and exit. They immediately contacted their parents and told them of the incident. The parents then contacted the police.

No charges were filed against Troutman at the time.

Troutman is currently facing charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, kidnapping, rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and other charges.

Skyler Kauffman's mother, Heather Gebhard, has expressed outrage at police for their lack of action in this original incident. Genhard told Philly.com, "(The police) blew me off."

Patch contributor Keith Heffintrayer reiterated some of the questions readers and residents have asked about this new information—"Why were no charges filed? Was his girlfriend comfortable with pornography along the walls in the bathroom? Having known about the first incident, why didn't the girlfriend call 9-1-1 when she heard screaming? Why haven't the police issued a statement?"—in a recent follow up on Lansdale Patch.

Norristown Patch will continue to bring you updated information about this story as it becomes available.