Pennsylvania man convicted of sexually assaulting 2 children in 1997 cold case

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (TCN) — A 56-year-old man was recently convicted of sexually assaulting children in the late 1990s, as well as possessing hundreds of images of child pornography, including photos of him raping minors.

According to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, a jury found Eric Dorwart guilty on Sept. 18 of 16 charges, including rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, and aggravated indecent assault. The judge presiding over the trial increased Dorwart’s bail to $3 million. The defendant will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutors said Dorwart sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy outside their residence near West Newport Road in Leacock Township in April 1997. The victims, who are now in their 30s, reportedly testified and said Dorwart approached them, “offered the girl money to perform sexual acts, and sexually assaulted her.” He later sexually assaulted the boy. Authorities said Dorwart didn’t know the victims.

Investigators began searching for a suspect, but the case went cold. According to the district attorney’s office, officials didn’t name a suspect until decades later. DNA outside Dorwart’s home matched semen found on the children’s clothing. Officers apprehended Dorwart in August 2023.

Prosecutors said Dorwart initially claimed he never approached the victims, but he later confessed during an interview with police that he “did encounter the children as he pulled over to urinate in the area and that he had sexual contact with them.”

Following his arrest, investigators reportedly discovered “multiple electronics containing hundreds of images of child pornography, including depictions of nude infants and toddlers.”

The district attorney’s office said more than 1,600 images of kids were located on the defendant’s phone and laptops, and 144 of them showed Dorwart raping and engaging in sexual contact with three different prepubescent minors in his room.

Another set of photos reportedly depicted Dorwart performing sexual acts on a baby. Prosecutors said one photo showed the defendant in a child’s room with “his pants removed and smelling an unknown child’s shoes.”

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