Ex-Bensalem Man Gets Prison For Sex Abuse Of Young Girl

BENSALEM, PA — A former medical professional in Bensalem is headed to prison for sexually abusing a girl from the time she was 8 years old.

Thomas N. Padikal, 72, who more recently lived in Hainesport, N.J., was sentenced Tuesday to 15-30 years in state prison for the abuse, which began in 2007 in Bensalem.

In a letter read in court by Deputy District Attorney Kristin McElroy, the victim wrote that the abuse she suffered left her "trapped in the prison of my own mind" and that she was "unable to be a child" because of it.

She described her attempts as a child to keep herself looking disheveled and dirty in hopes that Padikal wouldn't want to continue the abuse, which went on for two years.

In June, a Bucks County jury convicted Padikal on charges of of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and related crimes.

The abuse happened on a nearly daily basis until the girl moved away and he no longer had access to her, prosecutors said.

Padikal worked as a physicist in the radiology and oncology fields in the Bensalem area before moving to New Jersey. The jury saw text messages he sent the girl and heard a recorded phone call in which he said he "sacrificed" himself for the girl's sexual education.

Prosecutors showed evidence that, in the years after the girl moved, Padikal followed her on social media, created a website devoted to his obsession with her and kept a PowerPoint file containing pornographic images of the victim's face superimposed on the bodies of grown women.

He was arrested in November.

After the jury's verdict, Padikal continued to deny wrongdoing. Speaking at his sentencing hearing, he blamed his actions on the victim, prosecutors said, and asked to go home to be with his friends and continue his career.

"This defendant preyed on a child," McElroy said. "She was vulnerable and the defendant exploited that."

Judge Raymond F. McHugh rejected Padikal's attempts to shift blame as "nonsense" and said his behavior caused his victim serious harm.

The case was investigated by Bensalem Township Police with the assistance of Bucks County Detectives. New Jersey State Police assisted in Padikal’s arrest.