A New Oxford man, a convicted felon, has been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a child he had been babysitting in Adams County, according to court records.
Andrew Austin, 29, of New Oxford, faces five felony charges related to aggravated indecent assault on a child and child pornography, according to charging documents filed by Pennsylvania State Police on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.
Austin, unable to post $50,000 bail, remained confined in Adams County Prison as of Dec. 26, 2024, according to court records.
Court records show previous guilty pleas by Austin in relation to felony drug charges in 2018, misdemeanor charges of DUI in 2020, and misdemeanor drug charges in 2014.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, on Dec. 13, 2024, Pennsylvania State Police began investigating a child welfare referral made by a 7-year-old girl to a nurse.
The affidavit states that the 7-year-old victim told the nurse that Austin would supervise the child while her mother was working overnight shifts, and would allegedly expose himself to the victim and sexually assault the victim while requiring her to sleep in his bed.
The incidents were reported to have occurred at a Menallen Township home, as well as a New Oxford Borough home, according to the affidavit.
A caseworker investigating the case indicated that the victim’s mother had witnessed videos of sexual assault of the victim on Austin’s Snapchat account, which were dated May 2024, according to the affidavit.
On Dec. 18, 2024, according to the affidavit, police conducted a recorded interview of the victim’s mother, who stated that she had observed the videos in ‘memories’ on the Snapchat application, which provide a look back at previously created content.
The videos were in the folder “For My Eyes Only,” she told officers, and were seen in October 2024, the affidavit states.
After seeing the video in October, the mother confronted Austin, who told her he was checking if the victim had wet the bed, according to the affidavit. The mother had recorded a video of the video on her phone, but the phone was later destroyed by Austin during an argument, she told police in the affidavit.
The location of the videos was said to be a residence of a friend of Austin’s in New Oxford Borough, the mother told officers, and Austin’s face was allegedly visible in one of the videos, according to the affidavit.
Austin had previously resided at the New Oxford residence prior to moving in with the victim’s family in Menallen Township, the affidavit states.
The mother informed police that she was able to recover the video from her broken phone using her iCloud backup, and the videos, along with the broken phone, were entered into evidence by police, the affidavit states.
Upon recovering the videos, the affidavit states that officers identified Austin’s face visible in the videos, according to the affidavit.
A preliminary hearing for Austin is scheduled in front of Magisterial District Judge Tony J. Little for Jan. 2, 2025, records show.
This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Adams County man facing child sexual assault charges