John Forehand Arrested for Allegedly Propositioning Daughter for Sex via Facebook

October 12, 2009

Authorities in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania arrested 39-year-old John Christopher Forehand last week for allegedly using the social networking Web site Facebook to locate and sexually proposition his estranged 13-year-old biological daughter.

According to the criminal complaint, Forehand, using the name "Bad Daddy," recently contacted his daughter and told her that he had been having "inappropriate" dreams about her. He graphically described a variety of sexual acts and proposed meeting her for sex, allegedly telling her, "Not many other fathers and daughters are this brave, so not many of them are so lucky to experience all these pleasures."

Police say the girl did not fully understand everything Forehand was saying to her and that it was not until she looked up the meaning of some of the words that he used that she realized what he was asking; at that point, she reported the situation to her mother, who, in turn, contacted the Ephrata Borough Police Department.

On Oct. 6, an agent with the state Child Predator Unit took over the girl's email account, during which time Forehand allegedly sent multiple messages, urging his daughter to meet him for a sexual liaison. Posing as the girl, the agent agreed to a meeting with Forehand.

"I'll take very good care of my little girl," Forehand wrote, according to the affidavit.

The following day, agents from the Child Predator Unit and Ephrata Police arrested Forehand when he arrived at a predetermined meeting place. During a search of Forehand's vehicle, authorities seized a camera, tripod and box of condoms. A second search, conducted at his home Lititz, resulted in the seizure of several additional items, including a digital camera, a camcorder and computers. Those items are currently being analyzed by the Attorney General's Computer Forensics Unit.

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According to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, Forehand has been charged with one count of unlawful contact with a minor, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine,  one count of criminal attempted incest  and one count of unlawful contact with a minor, both second degree felonies, each of which is punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $25,000 fine, along with one count of criminal use of a computer, a third-degree felony which is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Forehand has been committed to prison in lieu of $400,000 straight bail – meaning the full amount of the bail would have to be paid in cash. There is no word yet on when Forehand's preliminary hearing will be held.

In an Oct. 9 press release, Tom Corbett, the Pennsylvania attorney general, announced John Forehand's arrest and warned parents to be wary of sexual predators.

"Parents need to understand that Internet predators are active in every part of our state - using online chat rooms, social networking sites, instant messages, digital cameras, webcams and other technology to reach into your homes - sending sexually graphic material to your kids, encouraging teens to send nude photos of themselves or trying to arrange meetings for sex," Corbett said.

Corbett encouraged parents to regularly discuss online safety with their children, and he offered several tips having to do with actively monitoring how children use the Internet, including:

• Being aware of which Web sites they visit.
• Knowing which social networking sites they frequent (MySpace, Facebook, etc).
• Teaching them the importance of not sharing personal information with strangers (names, ages, addresses, schools or other identifying information).
• Warning them to avoid strangers who approach them online.
• Making sure they know to report any contact with individuals who engage in sexual discussions or who attempt to send graphic photos or videos.

More information about reporting Internet predators and prevention education programs can be found at www.attorneygeneral.gov or by calling 1-800-385-1044.

Related Link:
David Lohr's Facebook Profile

Photo Credit: Pennsylvania attorney general's office

Please note: Persons appearing in mug shots may not have not been convicted of the charges for which they are accused and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Comments

[Joe]

How twisted can people be? At least this girl was normal enough to tell her mother what was going on.

[j.s.h.]

People can be and are very twisted unfortunately sir, I agree its very good that the girl told someone, but this guy will just get put into a segregated cell full of others like him for a while to exchange morbid tales, and relive conquests...then he'll get out, ACT good for a while, and then gradually deviate back to his former behaviors....its how things work for predatorial types such as him, and until Society recognizes the likliness of repeat offenses and does something more severe about it...expect things to get worse before they get better.

[Kim]

What a sicko

[JCM]

Not that it all makes a difference in the situation. What was done was disgusting, and wrong, and nothing can make it less vile...HOWEVER, I have noticed a few small discrepencies in all of the reports I've seen about this incident.
How do I know this? Because he is my brother. I'm also a cop (I live in another state than him). I see all the time where families of offenders always defend the defendant and say
"it couldn't have been him/her. He/she is such a good person". People get upset and blame the families for being supportive. It's a bad situation for everyone. The one that is hurt the most, of course, is the victim. But, everyone is now thrown into a situation where one of their own is accused of something so heinous, and it is very very very difficult for everyone to cope with.
My brother is 8 years older than me. So I've known him my entire life. He has also been my best friend. Nobody can really understand the magnitude of such actions on everyone involved..not just the intended victim (again, I'm not minimizing the horrid effects this has on the child victim, just pointing out that there are more lives effected by this than just the subjects of the predator).
I am not the typical family member who you see in the news that is naive the the reality of the situation. My opinions of sex offenders is the same for whoever the offender is, even the person that I once knew as my brother, my best friend. That person, is gone. How long ago he went away and turned into a monster, I do not know, and don't know if I want to find out. If there are any other victims of this new monster, I hope they have the courage to come forward so that he can be held accountable for his crimes. One day, he will be judged by the only One that can truly hold him accountable for eternity...how that turns out is between him and God, and nobody else will ever know that outcome, nor is it our business to even begin to assume how it will go.
For the time being, here on earth, the only way to protect children is to lock the offenders up in prison, and keep them there as long as possible (for life if you ask me). Behind bars in a cage like an animal. I used to think they should be given the death penalty, as these crimes are worse than murder...yet, a long long time in prison, living in fear every day of the other inmates who will do many horrid things to the offender (unless they are on suicide watch, child predators are NOT separated from general population, and thus are vulnerable to the many possible bad things that could happen to them, and that does happen in prison to child molesters).
Now, on to my original intent of this comment. The press release from the PA AG office has mislead the media to incorrectly state that he was estranged from his daughter for 10 years, and he used facebook to track her down. This was not a case of a dead beat dad (not including the current situation) out of nowhere tracking down his daughter with facebook with the intent of all this stuff happening. I don't know why this misinformation has bothered me, because it does not change what happened. It does not make it any less vile, and does not make a difference period. I guess it bothers me for some other reason...the way it was reported just feeds the fuel to the people who try to make everyone scared to even use the internet, and that bothers me. With proper monitoring of what our children do, and teaching them to do the right thing (such as what my niece did by telling her mom), the internet is safe and there is no reason to make people have one more thing to fear.

[cb on bonanzle]

This is just sick. Another example of how incest is on it's way to becoming a "norm" of society. Sounds like the guy is a predator and most likely isn't the first time he's contacted a minor through a social networking site. It also goes to show the dangers of having a profile on the net. Be it on facebook, myspace or wherever.

Bottom line is, people need to exercise safety and privacy on the net. There are too many predators out there and if you give them the opportunity, they will take advantage and hook their claws on you. Better to be private and "anti-social" than to be a victim.

[JRB]

Thank you JCM! This was hard to take being his sister and I haven't tried to contact him for several reasons. (I, too, live in another state.) It was bugging me to have them say he searched her down when I knew the whole time he'd had contact with her for a while. I looked up to him growing up as I sure you did. Breaks my heart to know this. I also don't see anywhere mentionned that he took his camera with him everywhere, including work. The media just posts all the negative. I'm not blind to his faults though in this. Hopefully our niece is doing ok.

[JCM]

JRB,
I thought about seeing if I could pull some strings to get into jail to visit him, not as a concerned family member that wants to visit a brother. But to make sure he knows how I feel about all this, and that he needs to spare everybody involved the pain of a trial and to just plead guilty. Then, I decided he wasn't worth the effort it would take for me to do that.

[KLF]

JCM & JRB,
I feel your pain. I have seen it and still had a hard time believing it. I agree with everything you said JCM. I know you two were/are close and this must be just as hard for you, maybe even harder.
There is so much to say, but this is not the place. My hope is that we can all talk in the future, after the legal matters are taken care of. I simply wanted to make known to you all, that I know this is hard for you as well. I still remember the man I fell in love with and my heart breaks for him.
We are doing fine... good days and bad. Thank you for your concern. My prayers are with you all.
KLF