Video: The dams of Bucks County’s rivers and creeks
Several dams can be found throughout the many creeks and rivers that wind through Bucks County. Here’s a look at a few of them:
A Philadelphia man faces multiple felony charges after he allegedly arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl that he met online for sex.
Bensalem police said that 43-year-old Eric Paul Rooney admitted that he came to an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Knights Road on July 17 to meet the underage girl to “hang out, kiss and have sex.”
He also allegedly admitted to regularly viewing and sharing child pornography depicting children as young as 5.
Bensalem police responded to the complex after receiving a report of a sex crime. The report came from a member of the unauthorized internet vigilante group, “Predator Poachers,” according to Bensalem police.
The Texas-based group has members who pose as children to lure would-be child predators, then livestream confrontations with suspects who show up for in-person meetings and notify local police of their investigations.
The affidavit indicated that Rooney was actually communicating with an “undercover persona” posing as a 13-year-old girl.
When police spoke to Rooney, he told them he was there to have sex with a 13-year-old girl he had been communicating with for several months, according to a probable cause affidavit.
After he was read his Miranda rights, Rooney allegedly told police that he “made a mistake,” and that his “intentions tonight were to have sexual intercourse,” the affidavit said.
Rooney was arraigned before District Judge Regina Armitage on five felony child sex-related charges and a related misdemeanor. He was transferred to Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 bail.
He did not have an attorney listed as of July 18, according to the docket.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com.
