LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Police and other law enforcement agents are searching for a Lehigh County man accused of fleeing from officers there to arrest him for arranging a sexual encounter with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
Michael Robert Bascom, of Slatington, is charged with statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, aggravated assault on a officer, recklessly endangering another person, fleeing from police, accidents involving property damage, and patronizing a victim of sexual servitude, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed against him on June 3.
According to police, Bascom was charged during an investigation focused on people soliciting minors for sex. He allegedly responded to an online ad, contacting an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.
In a series of text exchanges, Bascom allegedly arranged to have sex with the minor, agreeing to pay $400 per hour. He then sent the undercover officer a photo from a convenience store in Lancaster, where he agreed to travel to meet her.
Bascom showed up at the arranged meeting place, a hotel on the 2300 block of Lincoln Highway in East Lampeter Township, according to the complaint. But after circling the parking lot of the hotel in his vehicle, he quickly accelerated and attempted to leave, police say.
Officers stationed at the parking lot attempted to stop Bascom's vehicle, activating their emergency lights, but Bascom allegedly fled at a high rate of speed, going through multiple nearby parking lots in an attempt to elude the vehicles chasing him.
At one point, police say, Bascom's vehicle struck a law enforcement officer's vehicle before turning onto Lincoln Highway, traveling west at a high rate of speed despite the roadway's crowded traffic conditions.
Bascom is still at large, according to police. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force is searching for him.
As of Thursday morning, Bascom's location was believed to be near Frederick, Maryland, headed northwest towards Hagerstown, Maryland, according to police.
