A Lehigh County man faces multiple felony charges after police say he engaged in explicit online chats with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl and drove to Schuylkill County to meet her.
Robert Matthews, 37, of Germansville, is charged with two first-degree felony counts of criminal attempt to commit statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, along with third-degree felony counts of corruption of minors and criminal attempt of criminal use of a communication facility. He was arraigned on these charges Wednesday morning before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker, who remanded Matthews to Schuylkill County Prison on $100,000 bail.
The charges stem from an undercover online sting conducted on March 23 by Mahanoy City Police Chief Thomas Rentschler. Rentschler says he created a profile on the MeetMe dating app posing as a female living in Mahanoy City, directing users to contact the fake girl on the Kik app.
At about 3 p.m., police say Matthews contacted the undercover account, sent a nude photograph of himself, and explicitly propositioned the undercover officer for sex. During the exchange, Rentschler says he told Matthews he was a 15-year-old girl, nearly 16, and lied about the age – listed as 18 years old on the app – to create the profile.
Police say Matthews asked the undercover officer to delete the nude photograph because it could get him in “a lot of trouble.” However, police say Matthews continued the conversation, allegedly messaging, “you wanna [expletive] anyways lol but ya cant tell anyone.”
Matthews then provided travel updates as he drove toward Mahanoy City to meet, police say. At about 6:40 p.m., Matthews pulled into a designated parking lot near a local cafe driving a multicolored Toyota sedan, where police initiated a traffic stop and took him into custody.
During a follow-up interview, police say Matthews admitted he should have stopped communicating once the individual said they were 15 years old, acknowledging that “red flags” went off in his head. Police say Matthews told them he sees predator stings on social media and that “it sickens him.” When asked what would have happened if an actual 15-year-old girl had shown up, police say Matthews replied, “I’d like to say there is no way I can do it.”
Matthews consented to a search of his phone, where police say they immediately observed the active conversation on the Kik app.
Last week, a Reading man was sentenced in Schuylkill County Court to 8-20 years in state prison following his conviction on similar charges related to a previous undercover sting conducted by Mahanoy City Police.
Ven Jean, 32, drove to Mahanoy City from Reading after engaging in a conversation with Rentschler on Kik back in 2024.
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