Bucks court convicts tattoo artist Meyerle of child sex crimes

Tattoo artist Walter Meyerle was found guilty Tuesday in Bucks County Court of 170 counts of sex crimes against 15 children ages 4 to 17, possession of child pornography, and plotting to break out of the county prison.

"In my recollection, this guy is the worst in Bucks County for the number of victims," said David Heckler, who has served as a county judge and now as district attorney for 14 years.

Meyerle, 35, of Falls Township, will be sentenced after a mandatory 90-day sexual-predator evaluation. He faces a lifetime in prison, said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, who handled the case.

"I fear he will harm again if he has the chance and will try to escape if he has the chance, so I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail," Schorn said.

A few victims, relatives, and friends cried as Judge Diane E. Gibbons issued her ruling, reading every charge and naming each victim. (The Inquirer is withholding their names.)

Meyerle sat, handcuffed, with his two court-appointed lawyers and showed no reaction.

"There was no doubt he victimized all 15 victims over an extended period of time," Gibbons said. "He is a danger to the community, to young girls, young boys, adolescent girls, adolescent boys, and adults."

According to the accounts of victims, relatives, and police, Meyerle gained access to many of the children through their parents, who invited him into their homes or allowed the children to stay in his Bristol Borough house. Some of the children were siblings or friends of his victims, according to the accounts presented in the nonjury trial.

He would escalate the abuse from fondling to intercourse, violating "every orifice of their bodies," Schorn said in her closing argument.

The relationships lasted weeks or months, with Meyerle also demanding phone sex from several of the teenagers, according to the accounts. He persuaded some to send him naked photos of themselves, which he then used to blackmail them, the victims said.

Meyerle was first charged in March 2011 with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Croydon girl after her aunt noticed a tattoo that Meyerle had applied on her illegally since she was underage, according to accounts. The aunt had been a victim of Meyerle when she was a teen, according to her account.

After the charges were announced at a news conference, 14 other victims came forward and were willing to testify, Schorn said.

Gibbons found Meyerle guilty of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with minors, aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault, and statutory sexual assault - all felonies - and dozens of misdemeanor charges.

Because Meyerle had tried to escape from prison, Gibbons revoked his $6 million bail. She also ruled that he cannot come in contact with any of his victims, any witnesses in the case, or anyone he contacted to plan his escape, including his wife.

Meyerle and his parents, who sat through most of the five-day trial, declined to comment on the verdict.

His strategy from the start was to get a verdict and appeal Gibbons' pretrial rulings, which allowed most of the prosecution's evidence, his lawyers said.

Instead of a jury trial, he chose a stipulated waiver trial, in which witnesses' accounts were entered into evidence by the prosecution. His lawyers stipulated that the accounts accurately represented the witnesses' testimony, but not necessarily the facts.

Meyerle also declined to testify and directed his lawyers to not present a defense or closing arguments.