BENSALEM, Pa. – A man in Pennsylvania has been taken into custody after he reportedly hopped into bed with a sleeping 9-year-old girl. The suspect was a complete stranger to the family and was wearing nothing but his underwear as he touched the youngster “inappropriately,” according to law enforcement authorities.
The suspect was identified by police as 32-year-old Paddy Patrick Purcell. He was arrested after the girl awoke at 1 a.m. Sunday and found the underwear-clad stranger lying next to her in bed at the family’s residence in Bensalem.
Once the girl woke up to the frightening encounter, she ran to get her father. The young girl’s dad found Purcell sitting on his daughter’s bed wrapped in a blanket. Investigators believe he entered the home through an unlocked door, according to a press release from the Bensalem Police Department.
Purcell fled prior to the arrival of police. The child told responding officers that Purcell had “touched her inappropriately.”
The suspect left behind his jacket and keys with his name on them, according to court documents obtained by Action News.
Police quickly conducted a search of the area and their investigation led to a neighboring apartment occupied by the 32-year-old perpetrator. Purcell was positively identified as the suspect that was inside the victim’s bedroom and he was taken into custody.
The suspect was described as having an Irish accent, and was not known to the girl or her family. He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and indecent assault of a child under 13 years old, the New York Post reported.
Purcell was booked at the Bucks County Correctional Facility and is being held on a $1 million bond.
