Nick Fountain during his 24th Senatorial District campaign run (Credit: Nick Fountain, 2022)
An extradition hearing has been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 6 for a Skippack Township supervisor and daycare owner charged by the Harford County Sheriff's Office in Maryland last week with one felony count each of sexual solicitation of a minor and solicitation of child pornography.
Nicholas A. Fountain, 38, a lifelong township resident, remains in custody at Montgomery County, Pa. jail, without bail, awaiting the 9:30 a.m. extradition before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, according to court records.
He is accused of soliciting a 14-year-old boy for sex in Harford County, authorities said. Fountain was charged after a 3-day undercover investigation, authorities told the press, involving detectives posing as a teen on a Reddit chat titled "Boys ask dads."
According to police and reports, Fountain identified himself as "Nick" and sent explicit photos of himself on a gray-colored couch with a cream and gray-striped pillow. Investigators checked Fountain's social media activity once they had a lead, and allegedly found a photo from Christmas morning showing the same couch and pillow.
Fountain is a married father of two sons and stepfather of one. He opened the Magnolia Enrichment Center in Skippack in June 2020 and the Magnolia Children's Academy in Gilbertsville in August 2021. Parents and guardians affiliated with the schools were informed that Fountain would no longer be a part of either Magnolia center and both facilities are currently closed.
According to court records, Fountain was arrested prior to requisition on Wednesday. According to Pennsylvania law, if you are charged with a crime in another state, (in this case, Maryland,) before a formal extradition request, known as a "requisition," is received, a Pennsylvania judge can issue an arrest warrant for a person accused of a crime in another state, based on a complaint and sworn affidavit, to prevent their further flight and hold them for extradition proceedings.
Because Maryland has charged Fountain with a serious crime, Pennsylvania law requires that he can be held here, at Montgomery County, Pa. jail, and handed back over to Maryland. Since he is already in custody in Montgomery County, he is not going anywhere until Maryland’s extradition request is processed, according to court records.
Fountain, whose father, Don Fountain, is a Perkiomen Valley School Board member, was first elected to the Skippack supervisors in 2013 on the Republican ticket. Fountain, a graduate of Perkiomen Valley High School and a Temple University elementary education graduate, ran unsuccessfully for state senate in Bob Mensch’s seat in the 24th Senatorial District in 2022.
He was first elected supervisor in 2013, and was re-elected to his at-large term in November 2023. His peers on the board of supervisors called for his resignation, if the allegations were true.
Per his LinkedIn profile, Fountain had also been a junior kindergarten teacher at The Goddard School in Skippack from 2007 to 2020.
According to his old campaign website, Fountain, during his time on the supervisors, voted to cut taxes by 33 percent, he worked to preserve and protect the township's open space and historic landmarks, and he showed support for local first responders by helping to pass an ordinance declaring active volunteer firefighters tax exempt at the local level.
Fountain also formerly served* as the chairman of the Montgomery County Young Republicans and is former president of Skippack Historical Society. In 2011, he worked as a field deputy director for the Brown-Castor Montgomery County Commissioners’ campaign.
According to data from the state Department of Human Services Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Magnolia Enrichment Center at 1015 Bridge Road has been operating under a valid Certificate of Compliance and no sanctions or violations since June 2023, and Magnolia Childrens Academy at 1452 Grosser Road in Gilbertsville has been operating without any issues since March 2024.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
