Montco Pharmacy Owner Charged With Child Porn, Indecent Assault

LIMERICK TOWNSHIP, PA — The owner of a Montgomery County pharmacy has been arrested and faces numerous criminal charges involving child pornography and other indecent acts involving minors.

Phillip David Sebrell, 46, of Pottstown, faces a total of 92 criminal counts — 51 of which are felonies — in connection with crimes involving minor children, according to court charging documents.

Sebrell is the owner of the Sanatoga Pharmacy in Royersford, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The investigation into Sebrell began back in mid-September 2021 when the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth and the Limerick Township Police Department received information of possible sex trafficking and an indecent assault involving a minor child, according to the criminal complaint in the case.

Records show that he was arrested and processed in late January.

The initial allegation was that Sebrell was engaging in solicitation of sexually explicit images and videos from a 17-year-old female in exchange for money and/or gifts, the criminal complaint states.

Prosecutors say Sebrell and the teenage victim engaged in communications including chats, images and videos shared between the two that involved sexualized talk, a description of sex acts and interests, and graphic imagery.

A second allegation was that Sebrell sexually abused a female foster child who was in his care over a years-long period, according to authorities.

Investigators also said that included in the communications were financial transactions in the form of mobile payment services, where Sebrell transferred money to the teen in two separate transactions after "explicit sexualized talk and photos/videos were exchanged" between the two, the criminal complaint states.

The communications between the two allegedly occurred on the social media platforms Snapchat and Instagram, and the financial transactions occurred through the payment service app Cash.

The criminal complaint says that in an interview, Sebrell admitted to Limerick Township Police Detective Ernie Morris and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Lisa Reinhold that he engaged in some of the acts of which he was accused.

Sebrell also reportedly admitted to investigators that he engaged in inappropriate behavior with a foster child who was in his care when the girl was between 10 and 11 years old, although he said that the acts involving the child were merely meant to "annoy" and "tease" the girl, and not for sexual gratification.

The criminal complaint document says that investigators interviewed the girl, who said that Sebrell sexually assaulted her during an eight-year period when she was under his care.

The girl reported that the first sexual assault occurred sometime in late 2011, with several other assaults occurring during visits, family functions or when Sebrell would visit her family when they lived in an apartment complex in the Elkins Park section of Cheltenham Township in eastern Montgomery County, according to the criminal complaint.

The girl further stated that most of the assaults happened when she lived with Sebrell in Limerick Township, first between December 2011 and June 2013, and again between January/February 2017 through November 2018.

The criminal complaint says that the girl estimated that Sebrell had indecent contact with her on more than 50 occasions, and that Sebrell would "assault her, then laugh at her, and tell her she wouldn't be believed if she ever told anyone."

The complaint says that Sebrell would also give the girl large sums of money at a time.

As for the other allegations involving the teenage girl, the complaint says that Sebrell would request most of the photos and videos from her when he was at work at the Sanatoga Pharmacy, while Sebrell mostly created and sent the images to the teen while he was at his Limerick Township home.

Court records show that Sebrell had a preliminary hearing on March 3 before Magisterial District Judge Richard H. Welsh.

A formal arraignment has been scheduled for April 13.

Records show that all of the criminal charges during the preliminary hearing stage were waived for court, meaning they will now be carried over to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, which is the trial level court.

The charges against Sebrell are a mix of both felonies and misdemeanors, and include, but are not limited to, trafficking in minors, child porn, indecent assault on someone less than 13 years of age, dissemination of explicit sexual material to a minor, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communications facility.

Records show that Sebrell posted bail following his arrest.

Court records show Sebrell is being represented by Philadelphia attorney Timothy J. Tarpey.

Patch reached out to Tarpey's office to see if he would comment on the charges against Sebrell but a reporter was unable to speak with him prior to the publication of this story.