Justyn C. Wharton, 37, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 12½ to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Jenkintown girl on multiple occasions between August and December of 2024, The Pottstown Mercury reported.

Wharton’s charges include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child less than 16, corruption of a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor. He pleaded guilty in June and faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, The Mercury said.

A June 2025 investigation began when Pennsylvania State Police received a ChildLine report that alleged Wharton had text communications with a female juvenile from Jenkintown that “were sexual in nature.”

The girl’s mother later provided state police with the girl’s cellphone, which contained text exchanges and “sexually explicit images and videos” between the victim and Wharton. The victim told people that she and Wharton, who was 35 years old at the time, had sexual contact on multiple occasions.

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