A 40-year-old volunteer fire captain in Northampton Borough is behind bars on felony charges accusing him of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in his garage in August 2018, a case that sat untouched by police for more than seven years before detectives reopened it this spring. Michael A. Dempsey Jr. was committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $50,000 bail, and court records show he currently has no attorney representing him in the case.
Court records filed on August 11, 2026 charge Dempsey with two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault involving a victim under 16, along with felony unlawful contact with a minor and felony corruption of minors, according to Lehigh Valley Breaking News. The girl told investigators Dempsey inappropriately touched her in his garage after a picnic the previous summer, as reported by NBC10 Philadelphia. Dempsey was 32 at the time and the alleged victim was 14, per the outlet’s account of the case.
Dempsey served as a volunteer Captain, listed under Captain 4256, with the Northampton Borough Fire Department and appeared publicly in December 2025 as part of the department’s 2026–2027 officer lineup. The fire department has suspended him from his duties effective immediately, NBC10 Philadelphia reports, and the department says it conducts criminal background checks and child abuse clearance checks of its members, as required by law. Military records also identify Dempsey as a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s Headquarters Support Company within the 628th Aviation Support Battalion.
A Case That Sat Dormant for Seven Years
The girl confided in her therapist in April 2019, and that therapist, a mandated reporter, filed a ChildLine report with Northampton Borough police the same month, according to NBC10 Philadelphia’s reporting. Police made initial contact with the victim following that report, but the investigation then stalled for more than seven years after the victim’s family moved to Florida, per the same account. Under Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law, mandatory reporters such as therapists must make an immediate oral report to ChildLine upon suspecting child abuse, followed by a written report within 48 hours, according to a summary from Andreozzi + Foote…