BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — A southeastern Pennsylvania contractor was convicted Wednesday of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old boy while working on a project at the boy's home in 2021, Bucks County prosecutors said Thursday.
Jeffrey Todd Lukens, 62, of Buckingham Township, was convicted of indecent assault of a person less than 13, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, indecent assault, invasion of privacy, disorderly conduct and harassment after a three-day trial, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.
“I don’t know if this family will ever get that sense of safety and security back,” Deputy District Attorney Sarah K. Heimbach said during closing arguments at trial. “Finding this defendant guilty is a start.”
According to testimony, Lukens was hired to remove a bee nest from the basement of the victim's home.
While working on the project on Sept. 2, 2021, Lukens invited the boy to assist him and gave him a partial bee suit to wear to protect his face and upper body.
The boy was on a ladder and using a reciprocating saw to remove the nest when Lukens inappropriately touched the boy, and then lifted the boy’s shorts and took a cellphone picture of his thighs.
With the boy still on the ladder, Lukens continued to touch the boy, moving his hand under the boy’s shirt. He again inappropriately touched the boy and the boy got off the ladder and left when he felt Lukens lift his underwear away from his body.
Lukens returned to the home on Sept. 6 to finish the project. Before he left, Lukens asked the boy if he could take a picture of his abdomen, lifting up his shirt without permission to snap a picture.
The boy’s parents reported the incidents to the Newtown Township Police Department later that day. During the investigation, police seized Lukens’ cellphone and uncovered deleted cellphone pictures showing the boy’s thighs, lower stomach, and upper pubic area.
