Griffin
A New Bethlehem man has been arrested for having sexual contact with a five-year-old girl who was entrusted into his care.
New Bethlehem Police have filed 28 counts against 62-year-old Mahlon Andrew Griffin after conducting an interview with him on July 15, 2015. The arrest came after an investigation that began on May 21, 2015 after the police department received a referral of suspected child abuse from Armstrong County Children and Youth Services.
Griffin is charged with felonies that include rape forcible compulsion, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age, and aggravated indecent assault. He is also charged with misdemeanors including corruption of minors, indecent assault on a person less than 13 years of age, and endangering the welfare of children.
The sexual contact allegedly occurred in as many as on six separate occasions in February and March 2015.
Griffin was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Samuel Goldstrohm and was placed in the Armstrong County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.
According to police records, Griffin told New Bethlehem Police Sergeant Roger Wright that he was also charged 25 years ago for sexual misconduct with a ten-year-old boy.
Griffin allegedly admitted to Sergeant Wright that “he needs help with his sexual problem.”