An FBI sting operation has landed a 39-year-old South Lebanon Township resident in Bucks County jail on multiple sex charges involving minors.
Matthew Myles was arrested on charges that include allegations that he attempted to have sex with two underage girls.
Court records show an address for Myles on South 2d Avenue.
An affidavit of probable cause filed by Lower Makefield Township Detective Peter Lange alleges that an “FBI undercover employee” posing “on various social media platforms as a minor female” engaged in text message conversations with Myles beginning in January.
The exchanges allegedly continued over several days and culminated in an agreement for Myles to meet the fictitious girl and a fictitious underage female friend in the parking lot of a Bucks County grocery store for sex.
According to Lange’s affidavit, law enforcement officers went to the location at the agreed upon time and confirmed Myles’ presence on the scene through facial recognition software. “A traffic stop was initiated,” the report says, and Myles was taken into custody.
Police say that a search conducted at the time of arrest discovered a box of condoms and the cellphone Myles was using to coordinate the meeting.
Myles, who has pled not guilty, faces multiple criminal charges, including criminal attempted rape of a child, a felony that could put him in state prison for up to 20 years if the commonwealth can prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bail was originally set at $7 million by a magisterial district judge. Defense attorney John Fioravanti said in a Feb. 25 phone call that it was later reduced to $1 million, but that Myles remained unable to post it.
Fioravanti said that Myles works “in security,” but declined to identify his employer.
His next court appearance is scheduled for March 18 in Doylestown. No trial date has been set.
UPDATE: This post was updated at 9:30 a.m. on Feb 28 to include an approximate address from court records.
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