Shrewsbury Twp. man pleads guilty to statutory sexual assault of 13-year-old he met online

A Shrewsbury Township man pleaded guilty last week to statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor, after picking a 13-year-old girl up from New York and bringing her to his home last May.

Dale Robert Kumler, 25, of Shrewsbury Township also faced several charges of indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old, which were dismissed.

What happened in May 2023

According to court documents, on May 25, 2023, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office in Grand Island, New York contacted Pennsylvania State Police, which started the search for a missing teenage girl, after her parents reported her missing.

Prior to her going missing, the victim’s parents told police their 13-year-old daughter communicated with a man with through an Xbox online gaming platform.

Court documents show the victim told her parents his name was Dale, and that he was “possibly from the Pennsylvania/Maryland border area.”

Authorities conducted a consolidated lead evaluation and reporting (CLEAR) search, a computer search system used to gather information on individuals related to identity and location, according to charging documents.

A request was then made for police to respond to a home in Shrewsbury Township.

Later that evening at approximately 6:31 p.m., officers arrived at Kumler’s residence, and through questioning he advised officers that he picked the victim up in his vehicle and dropped her off in Harrisburg. Kumler was then detained and transported to PSP York for further questioning.

Kumler told officers that he picked the victim up in New York the night before at around midnight, before dropping her off in Harrisburg.

According to the criminal complaint, Kumler revealed to officers during his second interview, that he had inappropriate contact with the victim before dropping her off.

Later that evening, members of Pennsylvania State Police York conducted a search on the Kumler’s home, and spoke with his parents, before discovering the victim lying on Kumler’s bed, under a pile of clothing.

Kumler later admitted to having sexual contact with the girl after driving her to his home from New York. He was then taken into custody and held in York County Prison.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Shrewsbury Twp. man Dale Kumler pleads to sexually assaulting teen