Police said that Gerard Zalewski had fallen into a trap in 2004 when he tried to meet an underage girl from the internet and chatted her up for sex . Zalewski was actually conversing with an undercover police officer and was arrested. Aug. 15, 2004. The ensuing investigation revealed that Zalewski had previous sexual contact in June 2004 with a 13-year-old Bucks County girl he met online and additional charges
were filed.
On Nov. 14, 2005, Zalewski pled guilty in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas to Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Criminal Attempt to Commit Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, both first-degree felonies. Zalewski was out on bail awaiting sentencing but failed to appear for the hearing on March 29, 2006.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph A. Smyth proceeded with the court hearing. The judge found Zalewski to be a sexually violent predator; he was then sentenced in absentia to 5 to 20 years in state prison. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Charges of Flight to Avoid Punishment and Default in Required Appearance were filed in 2006, which could add to his prison term.
While police around the world were looking for him, he was in England and he did the same thing there, officials said. Zalewski was found in Lancashire, England in 2016. According to information from the Lancashire Constabulary Police, Zalewski was arrested in Kent on June 21, 2016. He pled guilty in October 2016 to two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, making indecent photographs of a child and false imprisonment.
Police said Zalewski groomed a 13-year-old victim over the internet, manipulated the victim into sending him indecent images, then met her in a park where he subjected the victim to sexual abuse over several hours including taping her mouth with masking tape, putting a dog collar around her neck and writing the words “rape me” on her leg. He then took pictures of her on his cellphone. Zalewski was sentenced in
December 2016 to 12 years in prison. He has been in an English prison until his release to U.S. authorities on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. Montgomery County Detectives picked up Zalewski at the Philadelphia International Airport
He was transported him to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Zalewski was arraigned on charges of Flight to Avoid Punishment and Default in Required Appearance on Aug. 27, 2024, by Magisterial District Judge Jodi L. Griffiths. Bail was set at $500,077, and he was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Sept. 4, 2024,
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