A Wallingford man accused of sexually abusing a juvenile girl and secretly filming her in a bathroom has waived his preliminary hearing on all charges, moving his case directly toward formal arraignment in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Eric C. Fransen, 50, faces 150 invasion-of-privacy counts, three counts of indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old, and corruption of minors in connection with allegations that span more than a decade.
According to a report from the Delco Times, which credits Pete Bannan with contributing to the story, the case began when the alleged victim contacted Nether Providence Sgt. Michael Markunas after discovering two cellphones containing nude images and videos of herself. She reportedly had received the phones three years earlier but waited to open them, only later reporting that she had been sexually abused during her adolescence and providing police with a timeline describing abuse from 2012 to 2023.
Investigators say they found 170 images and videos of the alleged victim naked that appeared to have been taken by a hidden camera in a bathroom, per the same report. The investigation reportedly found the videos had been downloaded to a computer, and that Fransen recorded the computer screen with his own phone, with his face appearing at the conclusion of several of the videos.
Multi-Agency Investigation Led to September Arrest
The Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Child Abuse Task Force investigated the allegations, and the criminal complaint was filed by CID Detective Sgt. Steve Bannar along with Markunas, the Delco Times reports. The task force includes law-enforcement officers from across Delaware County and assists in child-abuse investigations, according to Newtown Township…