![\"Jovan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771292229_457_JovanMcCreary.jpeg\")
Jovan McCreary is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom during a break at his trial. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\nNORRISTOWN \u2014 A Philadelphia man was convicted of charges he endangered an 8-year-old girl by having indecent contact with her while she was in his company at a residence in Lower Merion Township.<\/p>\n
Jovan McCreary, 38, of the 1400 block of North 15th Street, was convicted in Montgomery County Court of misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child and a felony charge of corruption of a minor in connection with a November 2024 incident while he was visiting the child\u2019s home in the Haverford section of Lower Merion.<\/p>\n
With a split verdict, the jury acquitted McCreary of the most serious felony charge of aggravated indecent assault, which could have carried a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison, and an additional misdemeanor charge of indecent assault.<\/p>\n
The jury deliberated about six hours after hearing testimony during a three-day trial.<\/p>\n
Judge Steven T. O\u2019Neill, who presided over the trial, deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about McCreary, who will undergo drug and alcohol evaluations.<\/p>\n
Jovan McCreary is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom during a break at his trial. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n
McCreary, who was remanded to the county jail without bail to await a sentencing hearing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 8\u00bd to 17 years in prison on the charges for which he was convicted. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence and McCreary will receive credit for all the time he spent in jail since his arrest last year, while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the sentence that McCreary eventually receives, he will face at least a 25-year requirement to report his address to state police as a sex offender to comply with Pennsylvania\u2019s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.<\/p>\n
McCreary also must undergo an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which will determine if he meets the criteria under state law to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions, including mandatory counseling and community notification about their residency.<\/p>\n
During the trial, the girl, now 9, testified that McCreary indecently touched her and forced her to touch his genitals when she was in his company at her Haverford residence on Nov. 14, 2024.<\/p>\n
McCreary, who was 37 at the time of the incident, knew the girl\u2019s mother and had access to the girl, who was 8 at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trusted him. She didn\u2019t know what was happening,\u201d Assistant District Attorney Margot S. Weitz argued during her closing statement to the jury, adding that the girl gave credible testimony.<\/p>\n
When he stepped into the witness box, McCreary denied indecently touching the girl, claiming he doesn\u2019t \u201ccuddle\u201d with little girls. McCreary testified he found the charges embarrassing.<\/p>\n
Defense lawyers John Francis McCaul and Andrew Joseph Levin suggested the girl gave inconsistent statements and that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to support any of the charges. Defense lawyers argued there was reasonable doubt in the case and that prosecutors presented no DNA evidence to corroborate the girl\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of investigation\u2026in this case is quite frankly appalling,\u201d McCaul argued during his closing statement to the jury. \u201cThey owe you answers to difficult questions posed in this case. He (McCreary) looked you right in the eye and said, \u2018This did not happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jovan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771292230_734_McCrearyCustody.jpeg\")
Jovan McCreary is escorted by sheriff\u2019s deputies from a Montgomery County courtroom during a break at his trial. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. \u2013 MediaNews Group)<\/p>\n
The investigation began on Nov. 15, 2024, when the girl\u2019s mother appeared at the Lower Merion Police Department with her daughter to report that McCreary had inappropriate contact with the girl.<\/p>\n
Testimony revealed that earlier that day, the girl told a friend at school that McCreary indecently touched her when McCreary was at her home the night before. The girl, at the urging of her friend, then confided in a school counselor, who contacted the girl\u2019s mother to report the girl\u2019s disclosure.<\/p>\n
When the girl was interviewed by detectives and child social workers, she reported that McCreary indecently touched her, then exposed himself and grabbed her hand and forced her to touch his genitals, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
The girl told authorities, \u201cit made me feel uncomfortable, and I tried to pull awa,y but he kept pulling me,\u201d according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Detective Joseph Hunsicker.<\/p>\n
The girl\u2019s mother, according to testimony, was sleeping at the time McCreary had contact with the girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe juvenile victim stated she is scared of McCreary because \u2018he knows where we live,\u2019\u201d Hunsicker alleged in the arrest affidavit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORRISTOWN \u2014 A Philadelphia man was convicted of charges he endangered an 8-year-old girl by having indecent contact…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[46,182,139,28,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-115700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-courts","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","14":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}