A Lehigh County man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly attempting to meet what he believed was a 15-year-old girl in Mahanoy City for a sexual encounter, according to court documents filed this week.
Robert C. Matthews, 37, of Germansville, was charged by Mahanoy City Police with Criminal Attempt to Commit Statutory Sexual Assault, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Corruption of Minors, and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility. The charges stem from an undercover operation conducted by Mahanoy City Police Chief Thomas Rentschler on March 23, 2026.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Chief Rentschler was conducting an investigation into online sexual predators while posing as a teenage female on the MeetMe social networking application. The profile directed users to contact the undercover account through the Kik messaging app…