67-Year-Old Man Groped 7-Year-Old Girl, Police Say

A 67-year-old Allentown man groped a 7-year-old girl while visiting with her in the back yard of her home in Northeast Bethlehem, city police said.

Juan Rojo-Rojas of 816 S. 16th St. was charged last week with indecent assault and corruption of minors for the alleged incident on Aug. 25.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Rojo-Rojas was pulling the girl in a child’s wagon around the back yard of her home as her mother watched. The mother then observed as Rojo-Rojas stopped the wagon in an area where her view was obscured by plants, police said.

The mother then walked over to where her daughter was and found Rojo-Rojas’s hand on the girl’s thigh, police said. The mother then took the girl inside the home and asked what happened.

The girl told her that Rojo-Rojas had rubbed her crotch over her clothes, police said. The girl later told police the same story, according to the affidavit.

It was unclear from the affidavit how the mother and the girl knew Rojo-Rojas.

Rojo-Rojas was arraigned Friday night before District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $15,000 bail.