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	Trial Set for Ex-counselor By Christopher Ruvo Burlington County Times June 3, 2009 http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/678/2009/june/03/trial-set-for-ex-counselor.html Ten teenage boys testified against a Quakertown, Pa., man at a preliminary hearing. A Quakertown, Pa., man will stand trial on felony charges that allege he had sexual contact with teenage boys and solicited sex from at least 10 male minors, some of whom he met at a Mennonite summer camp in Milford where he had been a counselor. Ottsville District Judge M. Kay DuBree ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence against Joshua P. Farrell, 20, for him to be prosecuted in Bucks County Court. DuBree made the ruling after 10 teenage boys took the stand against Farrell at a preliminary hearing. DuBree dismissed a charge of sexual assault after the alleged victim on that charge decided not to attend the hearing at the last minute. Authorities said the boy was too embarrassed to testify, but they plan to talk to him and the charge could be refiled. "Any 13-, 14- or 15-year-old boy is going to have difficulty discussing something like this. It's definitely embarrassing," said state police Trooper Gregg Dietz, lead investigator on the case, who was encouraged that 10 of the 13 alleged victims named in a criminal complaint testified Tuesday. David H. Knight, Farrell's lawyer, said authorities have "drummed up" a case against his client. He pointed out that purported victims were contacted by police, not the other way around. "It's a lot of smoke and no fire," said Knight. "A lot of this was just talking, just joking around. Clearly this is not the case of sexual abuse as advertised." When one victim was asked why he didn't tell authorities about Farrell's sexual advances, he responded, "I didn't want people to think I'm gay. I didn't want them to know some guy was going after me." Authorities began investigating Farrell in February 2008 when a parent intercepted a lurid text message Farrell had allegedly sent a teen. While one teen said he had consensual sexual contact with Farrell, the other alleged victims said they repeatedly discouraged his sexual advances. Still, Farrell often persisted in harassing the minors with text messages and/or Internet-based instant messages, the teens testified. He often would call them "cutie" and "beautiful," and insist they are bisexual, the teens said. Farrell attempted to lure the teens into sex acts with promises of cigarettes, alcohol and, in one case, a cheap sale on a car, the minors said. One teen said Farrell physically assaulted him twice at separate booze-fueled bonfire parties that Farrell hosted at his father's girlfriend's home in Lower Milford, Lehigh County. Farrell allegedly kissed the boy on his neck and attempted to touch him inappropriately at one party, though the teen said he thwarted the advance and walked away. At another bonfire at the same location, the boy said he awoke in a tent where various partygoers were sleeping to find Farrell fondling him. The teen admitted that he at one point "considered" engaging in a sex act with Farrell because the Quakertown man had "bribed me so many times." Still, he said he never consented to sexual contact. Two victims said Farrell had proposed to perform a sex act on them while they were campers at Camp Men-o-lan, a Mennonite summer camp in Milford. Farrell was their counselor; he slept in the same cabin as the teens. "He had this serious look. He was staring me down," said the alleged victim in regards to being propositioned by Farrell. "It was embarrassing - really humiliating. It weirded me out." Court papers say Farrell molested a 15-year-old boy in a vehicle that was parked at East Swamp Church in Milford after the frightened child told Farrell "no so many times I don't remember." That alleged victim declined to come to court Tuesday. Charges against Farrell include solicitation to involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault and more. Some counts were dropped because not all victims testified. When Farrell was arrested at his apartment, police found him asleep on a couch with a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. Farrell is free because he posted $20,000 bail following his arrest. Knight, his lawyer, said he is staying with family outside of Bucks County. Farrell left Quakertown after receiving at least one threatening voice mail, Knight said. Quakertown District Judge C. Robert Roth was initially supposed to hear the case, but he recused himself. Farrell's parents had been his tenants at one point. For a time, they had also attended the church Roth attends, the judge said.
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