NORRISTOWN — A Lower Merion Township man admitted to having indecent contact with an underage girl he met on the social media app Snapchat.
Zachary Joseph Goldstein, 24, of the 500 block of Winding Way in the Merion Station section of Lower Merion, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to misdemeanor charges of indecent assault of a child less than 13 years old and corruption of minors in connection with incidents that occurred in 2023.
Judge Thomas M. DelRicci deferred sentencing so that Goldstein can be evaluated by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board which determines if an offender meets criteria under state law to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those offenders who are classified as predators face more stringent restrictions while serving parole and probationary periods.
Regardless the sentence that Goldstein eventually receives, he will face a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
An investigation of Goldstein began on Jan. 12, 2023, when Lower Merion authorities were made aware that a 12-year-old girl reported that Goldstein touched her in an indecent manner during a Jan. 11 encounter after they had met on the social media app Snapchat, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Detective John Mick.
Court documents indicate the girl knew Goldstein as “JASON L” on Snapchat.
Goldstein picked up the girl near her Lower Merion home and Goldstein drove to Richie Ashburn Field located in the Gladwyne section of Lower Merion, according to the arrest affidavit. Once Goldstein parked his vehicle, he and the victim got in the backseat and he started to kiss the victim and then touched intimate parts of her body in an indecent manner, according to the arrest affidavit.
The victim reported she later blocked Goldstein’s Snapchat account.
Detectives were able to trace the Snapchat account to Goldstein’s email address.
When detectives reviewed Goldstein’s Snapchat account they found it contained several photos of juveniles under the age of 18 as well as several conversations with juveniles who sent Goldstein photos and “communicated with him about their age and what schools they attended,” Mick alleged.
Goldstein allegedly responded several times that he was 16 years of age and was in 10th grade and attended a local school. Goldstein, who was 23 at the time, asked one girl if she was home alone and indicated he wanted to hang out, according to the arrest affidavit.
Detectives subsequently interviewed several juveniles regarding their Snapchat conversations with Goldstein.
According to the arrest affidavit, Goldstein, claiming he was 16, asked a girl for a nude photo “after she told him she was only 12 years of age and in 7th grade.” Detectives uncovered other chats that Goldstein had with girls ranging in age from 13 to 15, court documents alleged.
“He asked her if she was a good kisser and he said there is only one way to find out. He asked her when they could hang out and called her sexy and cutie and said ‘I want you baby,’” alleged Mick, referring to a Snapchat conversation Goldstein had with one 15-year-old girl. “He further stated she was ‘hot’ and said, ‘wish I could see more.’”
Other charges of criminal use of a communication facility, solicitation of minors to depict computer sex acts and unlawful contact or communication with minors are slated to be dismissed against Goldstein at time of sentencing.
