Credit: Bucks County Department of Corrections
Editor’s Note: The below story contains graphic descriptions of alleged sexual acts.
A man accused of having a sex with two teenage girls waived his right to a hearing Tuesday afternoon in district court.
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Benjamin Gartside, 35, of the Morrisville section of Falls Township, will face trial for two counts of felony statutory sexual assault on a minor, aggravated indecent sexual assault, corruption of minors, child pornography and other offenses.
The 35-year-old was arrested in December after two teen girls came forward to investigators days apart stating they had sexual relationships with Gartside. They claimed to investigators that he even brought them on drug runs in Philadelphia.
According to an affidavit filed by police, the 15-year-old girl said she had sexual contact during the month of November with Gartside in a local motel, later at his trailer home on Chandler Drive and several times in a wooded area.
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Gartside, who is divorced, is accused of using his mobile phone camera to videotape himself performing sex acts on the 15-year-old, police said.
The 15-year-old also was encouraged by Gartside to make a email account so she could communicate secretly with him, police said. Authorities added that the teen sent him photos of herself in a “state of undress” after he asked.
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A 14-year-old victim came forward and told police that in October Gartside groped her and performed a sexual act. She also said he gave her an “off-white” pill on Halloween and had sex with her, police said.
Gartside remains in county jail on $500,000 bail.
