NORRISTOWN — A man who listed addresses in Pottstown and in Bally, Berks County, is awaiting his fate from a judge after he admitted to sexually assaulting a 12 year old boy in Upper Gwynedd Township.
Brock Isaac Tharp, 32, who listed addresses in the 700 block of Logan Street, Pottstown, and in the 600 block of Main Street in Bally, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of statutory sexual assault in connection with an Aug. 29, 2023, incident.
Judge William R. Carpenter deferred sentencing so that Tharp can undergo an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which will determine if Tharp meets criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions while on parole and probation, including mandatory counseling.
Tharp faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison on the charge. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
Regardless the sentence that Tharp eventually receives, he does face a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
The judge remanded Tharp to the county jail without bail to await his sentencing hearing.
Other charges of rape of a child, indecent assault of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault of a minor and corruption of a minor are slated to be dismissed against Tharp at time of sentencing.
Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel is handling the case. Defense lawyer Brendan Campbell represents Tharp.
Court documents do not indicate how Tharp met the 12 year old boy.
However, in September 2023, “as a result of an investigation into a different matter,” the victim provided detectives consent to download the contents of his cellphone, according to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Gwynedd Township Detective Sergeant Robert Pro III.
While reviewing the contents of the boy’s cellphone, detectives uncovered conversations he had with Tharp, who was 31-years-old at the time. During the conversations, Tharp and the victim discussed engaging in sexual acts and arranged to meet on Aug. 29, according to court documents.
Tharp drove to the boy’s Upper Gwynedd neighborhood where he picked him up, according to court papers. Tharp then drove a short distance to a parking lot where he engaged in sex acts with the boy.
“Afterwards, Brock drove the victim back to his neighborhood and dropped him off,” Pro alleged.
A day later, Aug. 30, the boy contacted Tharp about glasses that he had left in Tharp’s vehicle and the two discussed Tharp returning the glasses to him.
“They attempted to arrange another meeting for sex and to return the glasses but never were able to do so,” Pro alleged.
In January 2024, detectives posing as the underage boy contacted Tharp and during a conversation Tharp discussed the Aug. 29 sexual encounter, arranging a sexual encounter in the future and requested photos from who he believed was the underage boy, according to the criminal complaint.
During the investigation, four other men from Montgomery and Bucks counties were charged with having inappropriate contact with the same boy.
Last month, Joseph Edward Slover, 25, of the 300 block of Erie Drive, Towamencin Township, was sentenced to 2½ to 6 years in prison, to be followed by two years of probation, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of statutory sexual assault in connection with an Aug. 28, 2023, incident during which he sexually assaulted the boy.
The cases against three other men accused of sexually assaulting the same boy are still pending in county court.
