Philly Man Admits Trying To Meet Abington Teen Boy For Sex

ABINGTON, PA — A Philadelphia man has admitted to using the social media site Instagram to attempt to meet up with a Montgomery County teenager for sex.

Geonattan Fabiani, 31, of the 5400 block of Montague Street, pleaded guilty on Nov. 17 to felony attempted statutory sexual assault of a young teenage boy back in the spring of 2020.

The guilty plea was made before Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Cheryl L. Austin, according to court records.

Fabiani also entered a guilty plea to felony child pornography possession.

According to county prosecutors, Abington Township police had been contacted by the boy's family on May 2, 2020 to say that a 30-year-old man was communicating with the juvenile through Instagram messaging.

The boy's Instagram account listed the boy's age as being "15 going on 16" at the time, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, which had announced Fabiani's arrest back in June of last year.

"The communications were sexual in nature and included multiple requests by defendant for naked photos of the juvenile," the D.A.'s Office said in a June 2020 news release. "The defendant also was pressing to meet the juvenile for sex."

Abington Police detectives subsequently used the boy's cellphone to arrange an in-person meeting with Fabiani, who was ultimately taken into custody by authorities at the meet-up location.

"Sexual predators know that cell phones are always in the hands of our teenagers and an easy way to reach out to teens and children without the adults in their lives being aware of it," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement last year. "Parents need to be vigilant and aware of who their children are in communications with as well as talk to their kids about these types of attempts."

Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records show that Fabiani was originally charged with a slew of other criminal counts, including a total of nine other felonies, but those additional charges appear to have been dropped in exchange for the guilty plea on the two felony child porn possession and attempted statutory sexual assault charges.

Court records show that Austin, the judge, deferred sentencing following the guilty plea so a background investigation can be completed on Fabiani, who is currently confined to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

The Mercury newspaper of Pottstown reported that Fabiani could face a possible sentence of between 15 and 30 years in prison, although sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.

Court records show that the case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Bridget Cauley Gallagher and that Fabiani was represented by Audubon, Pa.-based lawyer Patrick Timothy Duffy.