Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A Bristol Township man accused of molesting a girl more than two decades ago will head to trial for the crime.
Scott Sechrist, 61, had charges forwarded to Doylestown during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Robert Wagner on Tuesday.
Advertisements
The girl, now a woman in her 30s, first reported the molestation in 1992 but charges were not filed until last week, according to court papers. Journalist Jo Ciavaglia, who was in the court proceedings, tweeted Tuesday that the woman recanted the sex abuse allegations in 1992.
A report in the Bucks County Courier Times said tapes of a man identified as Sechrist speaking about molestation were played in court.
“I don’t know why it was you … I don’t know. I can’t answer that,” Sechrist said in the tapes, according to the newspaper.
Advertisements
According to police, the woman told a detective recently that Sechrist began sexually assaulting her by grabbing her butt. He reportedly told her it was “cute” when she was in fifth grade inside a Bristol Township home. The assaults continued and even happened during evening prayer sessions that lasted for 10 to 15 minutes.
Authorities allege Sechrist’s behavior escalated to intercourse.
Advertisements
The alleged molestation stepped up when Sechrist and the girl began to have more alone time, police said.
According to court papers, the assaults involved multiple forms of sexual activity and would take place throughout the home the girl lived in. The woman recently relayed to detectives the assaults happened multiple times a week for two years, police said.
The behavior between the girl and Sechrist only stopped when the incident were reported when the girl was 12 years old.
Advertisements
Sechrist was the pastor at a Baptist church in Morrisville Borough and knew the girl’s family.
