Authorities accuse local man of online crime
A Fayette County man confessed to committing acts of perversion after undercover agents went to his home following an online chat. Terry Lee Rose, 30, of 9 Lakeview Drive, Vanderbilt, was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of children, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of criminal attempted unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a computer.
Rose could face seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine for the third-degree felony charges.
He is also charged with criminal attempted corruption of a minor, which as a first-degree misdemeanor carries a five year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.
Authorities said Rose was remanded to Fayette County Prison on $200,000 cash bail after he was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Dwight Shaner.
He was also ordered to undergo a behavioral analysis, forbidden to use the Internet or have unsupervised contact with minors.
A preliminary hearing on the charges is scheduled for Tuesday before Shaner.
Deputy Attorney General William Caye of the Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit would prosecute Rose in Fayette County.
Between March 7 and April 30, undercover agents from the child predator unit went to an Internet chat room pretending to be a 13-year-old girl. Throughout that time period, authorities allege Rose sent the agent several explicit messages along with photographs of exposed genitalia, child pornography and child erotica.
They further alleged Rose proposed that he and the girl meet to have sex. According to the agents, Rose initially identified himself as a teen.
In another case, the agents also arrested a 24-year-old Wexford man on similar charges.
Magisterial District Judge William K. Wagner arraigned Thomas C. Phillips of 333 Germain Road Friday on unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of criminal attempted unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a computer and criminal attempted corruption of minors.
Created in 2005, the child predator unit, used to stop child predators before they can harm a child, has arrested 72 suspected child predators from Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
“Parents need to understand that predators are actively using the Internet to seek out and contact children,” Attorney General Tom Corbett explained in a prepared statement.
To reach the child predator unit to report a suspected child predator, call 1-800-385-1044 or file an online complaint at the Web site www.attorneygeneral.gov. Visit the “Operation Safe Surf” or “Just 4 Kids” sections of the Web site for Internet safety information.