Crime & Safety
Freemansburg Man Charged With Raping Teen
16-year-old victim was hospitalized, police say. 53-year-old suspect jailed under $75,000 bail.
A 53-year-old Freemansburg man has been charged with raping a 16-year-old girl last month.
Court records say Gregory Lee Johnson is facing charges of rape-forcible compulsion, sexual assault, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and indecent assault.
The alleged incident occurred around 9pm Dec. 8, a Saturday, the records say.
A criminal complaint filed by borough Patrolman Tim Schoenenberger also says:
- Schoenenberger, who was called in so that he could work on the case, was present when the victim was interviewed by borough police Chief Todd Pantuso at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, where she had been taken by a friend’s mother.
- The victim said she was sitting on a bench at the foot of a bed “doing her hair.” The suspect was sitting on the right side of the bed. She said the suspect asked her to come over to him so he could show her a receipt for a calculator “that was purchased for her for school work.”
- She said that when she went over to him, he forced her onto the bed and had sex with her “without her consent.” She said she left and sought help from a friend.
- Statements from the victim, friends and a friend’s mother all said the victim said she had to go to the hospital because the suspect “had raped her.”
An arrest warrant for Johnson was approved Dec. 10 by District Judge Joseph Barner of Lower Nazareth Township. Johnson was taken into custody Tuesday. The complaint does not explain the time gap.
He was arraigned at 9 Tuesday night by on-duty District Judge Todd Strohe of Bangor and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.
