NORRISTOWN — A Lower Pottsgrove man who authorities alleged gave a teenage girl drugs and gifts in exchange for sex has admitted to sexual assault charges and potentially faces several years in prison.
Eric Carmine Cellucci, 41, of the 2600 block of Allison Drive, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony charges of statutory sexual assault and production of child pornography in connection with incidents that occurred in 2023 with a 15-year-old township girl.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill deferred sentencing so that court officials could complete a background investigation report about Cellucci and so he could be evaluated by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board, which will determine if Cellucci meets the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions while on parole and probation.
Cellucci also must undergo a psychosexual evaluation.
Cellucci faces a possible maximum sentence of 3 to 6 years in prison on the charges.
Regardless of the sentence that Cellucci eventually receives, he will be required to report his address to state police for the remainder of his life in order to comply with the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, previously known as Megan’s Law.
Cellucci was remanded to the county jail without bail to await his sentencing hearing later this year.
Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel is handling the case. Defense lawyer George Griffith Jr. represented Cellucci during the court proceedings.
The investigation began on Oct. 3, 2023, when Lower Pottsgrove police received a report that Cellucci had sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl who lived in the township. Cellucci provided the girl with drugs and gifts in exchange for sex, detectives alleged.
Detectives obtained text communications between Cellucci and the girl that included messages about drug usage, “including an incident where the two engaged in drug use at a nearby park,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Pottsgrove Detective Joseph Campbell.
Cellucci also sent the girl images of his genitals and encouraged the girl to send him nude photos of her, detectives alleged, which made out the basis for the child pornography charge.
“These messages detailed sexual interests and plans for sexual encounters,” Campbell alleged. “In several of the exchanges, Cellucci encourages (the victim) as a minor to engage in sexual activity with him. In several of the messages, Cellucci entices (the victim) to continue in the sexual relationship with him by means of suggesting financial benefits, gifts and illegal drugs.”
When the girl was interviewed by child social workers she disclosed that Cellucci told her he was 31 years old and that he was aware of her age. The girl told authorities about meeting Cellucci at a park in the 2600 block of East High Street where she said Cellucci provided her with alcohol and they engaged in sexual activity on a picnic table, according to the arrest affidavit.
The girl recalled a similar encounter in a wooded area at Sanatoga Lake Park, court documents indicate.
The girl told detectives that Cellucci claimed to be a drug dealer with connections to a Mexican cartel and that she had become “paranoid and scared of Cellucci because of the stories he would tell her concerning the drug trade and his involvement,” according to the criminal complaint.
Cellucci reportedly gave the girl jewelry and a purse as gifts.
Other charges of trafficking individuals, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault of a minor and corruption of a minor are slated to be dismissed against Cellucci at time of sentencing.
