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Jeffrey Fralich, of Lititz, pleaded guilty to five third-degree felonies and one second-degree felony for agreeing to pay for sex with a minor.on Friday, June 30, authorities in Lancaster County said.
Fralich was sentenced to 1½ to 5 years in prison plus five years of probation, following the 2022 sting, by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker.
Lancaster County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force (HTTF), with help of the FBI, began a detail focused on solicitation of sex from minors online in 2022.
Online prostitution advertisements were created, and investigators posing as a family member of a 12-year-old girl began communicating with Fralich to facilitate sex acts, police said.
Fralich agreed to pay $400 to have sex with the minor for an hour, and agreed to pay an additional $50 for unprotected sex, police said. He also requested oral sex, a lewd photograph, and for the 12-year-old to be brought to him.
Investigators determined the phone number used in the communications belonged to Fralich and confirmed his residence as the home he asked the 12-year-old to be brought to, authorities said.
Fralich is one of nine defendants arrested in similar HTTF stings in 2022 and one of three defendants — others being Joseph Giannini and Jose Villa Corta — who have been convicted and sentenced. All other defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Assistant District Attorney Amy Muller prosecuted the case and Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detective Jessica Higgins filed charges.
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