Courts. (Credit: LevittownNow.com)
A man with listed addresses in Hatfield Township and Pennsburg, acquitted this March by a Montgomery County Common Pleas jury on charges of illegal gun possession while a rear seat passenger in a car stopped by Hatfield Police for traffic offenses, heads to trial this week on charges of multiple sexual assaults on a runaway girl.
Jason Matthew Hill, 49, of Vassar Drive in Hatfield and the 1400 block of Quakertown Avenue in Pennsburg, remains in Montgomery County jail on $2 million bail for the alleged assaults of a 14-year-old Marlborough Township girl while she was drugged with methamphetamine, according to The Reporter.
In the upcoming sexual assault trial, Hill is accused of establishing a relationship with and grooming a mentally-impaired, runaway teenager for purposes of sexual abuse between January and June 2023, according to the report.
County detectives and Marlborough Township Police authorities alleged the juvenile described the grooming and sexual abuse as "trauma bonding" -- he would tell the girl stories related to his youth and growing up, which happened to be the same issues the juvenile had experienced during her life. He also allegedly brought her from one “trap house” to another to be sexually abused, investigators allege.
“That’s when the defendant saw his target. The defendant started giving her meth every day,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Margot S. Weitz argued to a jury as the trial for Jason Matthew Hill got under way on Tuesday, according to The Reporter. “Consent is not an issue in this case. She was too little to consent.”
The girl, who is now 17, drug-free, and in custody of a relative, revealed the alleged sexual assaults to a therapist, per testimony.
According to the report, Weitz said the “broken little girl” had a mother who died of an overdose when she was 12, and then she became addicted to methamphetamine. At the time of alleged abuse, the girl was 14 and Hill was 48, according to testimony.
Prosecutors alleged Hill took the girl to at least three residences in Bucks and Montgomery counties, where drug addicted people stayed or hung out, per the report. The victim was forced to hide in a closet at one location where she went to the bathroom in a bag and had little to eat.
According to the article, the girl dropped weight during her alleged time with Hill, going from 130 to about 89 pounds.
Hill allegedly sexually assaulted the girl at two locations where Hill and the girl stayed.
“I accepted it. It felt like (Hill) was the only person I had. I just didn’t really care about anything. I think I just tuned it out,” the victim testified as she petted a court comfort dog that sat at her feet in the witness box, according to The Reporter.
Hill’s lawyer, John H. Pavloff, said his client committed no sexual acts at all. He said prosecutors have no sufficient evidence, not even DNA.
Prior acquittal
After two days of deliberation, the jury acquitted Hill of carrying a firearm without a license and receiving stolen property in connection with a May 30, 2023 incident in Hatfield Township. Authorities alleged that Hill had a gun on the floor of the car during the stop, but the jury found that Hill was not in physical possession of the gun, according to The Reporter.
After two days of deliberation in mid-March, the jury acquitted Hill of carrying a firearm without a license and receiving stolen property in connection with a May 30, 2023 incident in Hatfield Township. Authorities alleged that Hill had a gun on the floor of the car during the stop, but the jury found that Hill was not in physical possession of the gun, according to The Reporter.
The defendant – sporting a heavily-tattooed face, bald head and glasses and a black dress shirt and blue tie – was convicted, however, of misdemeanor giving false identification to police during the stop, according to the report. Hill will be sentenced on the offense in the near future, and could receive up to one year in prison.
“I think they did absolutely perfect. I think they did a good job. I don’t mind you getting no [sic] pictures now, I’m not guilty,” Hill said to The Reporter after his March acquittal.
Hill’s attorney in the gun case, James E. Tone, said there was no DNA evidence linking his client to the weapon.
Read more on the prior court incidents here.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
Editor's Note: The headline was corrected to remove "drug-addicted" as a description of the victim.
