CARLISLE, Pa.–A Carlisle man is accused of sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl in Cumberland County, according to a criminal complaint filed by Pennsylvania State Police.
Benjamin Richwine, 32, is charged with corruption of minors, unlawful contact with minors and indecent assault.
The investigation into Richwine began in Nov. 2015 when the girls mother contacted authorities after she suspected her daughter had been sexually assaulted by Richwine, according to court documents. The woman told police she caught Richwine simulating a sexual act on her daughter while they were both clothed, court documents state.
The woman told police Richwine would also do and say inappropriate sexual things in front of her young daughter. She claimed Richwine was verbally and sexually abusive.
On two separate occasions, the woman said Richwine asked her to perform sexual acts on him while he was holding her 3-year-old daughter or while they were in the vehicle with the child.
Richwine’s phone was searched by authorities in December after police received information that he had been taking naked photos of children and sending them to the girls mother, according to the criminal complaint.
The phone was analyzed and police discovered that Richwine had accessed another woman’s email account and recorded a phone conversation with the woman without her consent, court documents state.
Police say Richwine’s browser history revealed that he searched if certain behaviors constituted hacking and “recording a phone call in pa.”
Richwine is also charged with unlawful duplication, intercepting communications, unlawful use of a communication facility, computer theft and computer trespass.
Richwine was arrested on July 2 and taken to Cumberland County Prison. He was released Monday after posting $30,000 bail, according to online court records.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20.
