Underage Sex Sting Nabs Lower Providence Man: Prosecutors

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — Five men from Southeastern Pennsylvania, including one from Lower Providence, are accused of trying to lure a young teenager for sex, but their social media communications with who they thought was a 14-year-old was actually with undercover investigators looking into child sex crimes, prosecutors announced Thursday morning.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of the five men after investigators participated in an undercover operation on multiple social media sites looking for child predators.

The following men were arrested and criminally charged:

Onesimo Rodriguez Campos, 27, of Norristown; David G. Kohlmeier, 46, of Devon; Allan R. Lattanzi, 57, of Lower Providence; Kenneth Sugalski, 49, of Conshohocken; and Ashish Verma, 37, of Norristown.

Each are facing a variety of felony charges connected to the alleged child luring.

Prosecutors said the case was a collaborative effort between county detectives working with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and local police from Conshohocken Borough, Upper Providence Township, Abington Township and Lansdale Borough.

The federal Homeland Security Investigations division was also involved in the case.

The arrests stemmed from an undercover operation last week, during which investigators say the five men separately engaged in extensive online and text communications with undercover detectives posting as a 14-year-old girl or 14-year-old boy.

"They engaged in sexually explicit electronic communications with a person they believed was a minor child, and some of them also sent sexually explicit photos to the purported 14-year-old," the DA's Office said in a news release. "Each of the five defendants then appeared at an agreed-upon meeting location in Conshohocken with the intent of having sexual relations with the minor child."

According to the DA's Office, the arrests and court status for each of the defendants is outlined below:

Campos was arrested on Sept. 15 and charged with felony contact with a minor-sexual offense, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted statutory sexual assault and criminal use of a communications facility, as well as misdemeanor charges.

He was released after posting $50,000 unsecured bail.

Kohlmeier was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with felony contact with a minor-sexual offense, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted statutory sexual assault, attempted aggravated indecent assault and criminal use of a communications facility, along with related misdemeanor counts.

He was released from custody after posting 10 percent of $99,999 bail.

Lattanzi was arrested on Sept. 15 and charged with felony contact with a minor-sexual offense, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted statutory sexual assault, attempted aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and criminal use of a communications facility, and also misdemeanor counts.

He was released after posting $5,000 cash bail.

Sugalski was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with felony contact with a minor-sexual offense, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted statutory sexual assault, criminal use of a communications facility, and related misdemeanor charges.

He was sent to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after he was unable to post 10 percent of $99,000 cash bail.

Finally, Verma was arrested on Sept. 16 and charged with felony contact with a minor-sexual offense, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted statutory sexual assault and criminal use of a communications facility, and also related misdemeanor charges.

He was released from custody after posting $99,000 cash bail.

The DA's Office said that investigators from the countywide Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and detectives from municipal police agencies and other law enforcement have been joining forces since 2018 in a combined effort to "safeguard children by identifying and arresting individuals who use various social media platforms to contact and then arrange to meet to have sexual relations with children."