Men who met Dover boy on Grindr and Squirt charged with sexual contact

Two York County men — ages 34 and 72 — face charges in connection with allegedly having sexual contact with a 13-year-old Dover Township boy, according to charging documents.

Police say conversations between the teen and the men began on two online gay dating sites, Grindr and Squirt.

Robert Leroy Jacobs Jr., 72, of the 800 block of South Lake Road, Jackson Township, faces charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse - person less than 16 years of age, statutory sexual assault - 11 years or older, unlawful contact with minor - sexual offenses, corruption of minors, indecent assault person less than 16 years of age and interference with custody of children.

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Franklin Baushard Merritt, 34, of the 200 block of South Pine Street, York, faces charges of unlawful contact with a minor, dissemination of explicit sexual material to a minor and corruption of minors.

Mother reported alleged crimes

Northern York County Regional Police began investigating July 12 when the boy's mother arrived at their headquarters and filed a report after finding "inappropriate  content and messages" on her son's cellphone, documents state.

"She advised she found that he had been sending and receiving messages from numerous adult men," documents state.

The messages were "graphic and sexual in nature" and involved the boy giving his address and mentioned possibly meeting up with the men, according to documents.

Police examined the boy's phone and found a phone number that was traced to Merritt and a conversation from July 9 to July 11. Police contacted Merritt and interviewed him at their department on July 30, documents state.

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Merritt told police he had met the boy on Grindr and that the boy said he was 18 years old, although Merritt said his age was "questionable" after seeing a photo of him. After the two connected online, the boy sent Merritt pictures of his genitals. Merritt admitted that in return, he had sent nude photos and videos of himself to the boy, according to documents.

"Merritt also admitted to setting up arrangements for sexual acts with (the boy) after receiving the personal photos ... and admitted to researching directions and travel time to (the boy's) address," documents state.

The two never met in person, according to documents.

Police charge second man

Police also discovered another phone number on the boy's phone that belonged to Jacobs. While examining the phone, police found a conversation between the boy and Jacobs that went from July 5 to July 10. The two initially met on the dating app Squirt, documents state.

On July 8, the two made arrangements to meet, with the boy providing his address to Jacobs. At 12:19 p.m., the boy tells Jacobs, "Ok I will be waiting outside then" and at 5:38 p.m., the boy sent Jacobs another message, saying, "We are definitely have to get together again," documents state.

Police interviewed Jacobs on Aug. 1 and he said he first met the boy on Squirt — where the boy presented himself as 18 years old — and then they began texting each other. The boy wanted to meet up but told Jacobs he couldn't host the meet-up because he lived with his parents, according to documents.

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Jacobs said that about 2 p.m. on a Monday in July, he picked up the boy and took him back to his home, where the two had a sexual encounter, documents state.

While examining Jacobs' phone, police could not find the messages between the two, but did find a photo the boy had sent to Jacobs, according to documents.

Defendants' court dates

On Tuesday, Merritt remained in York County Prison without bail. He has a preliminary Hearing on Sept. 18 before District Judge David C. Eshbach, according to online court dockets.

Jacobs was arraigned on Aug. 13 and released later the same day after posting a portion of his $100,000 bail. He has a preliminary Hearing the same day as Merritt, also before District Judge David C. Eshbach.

Jacobs did not return calls for comment.

Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.