Lehigh County man headed to trial for alleged rape of a York child

May 1, 2026, 12:51 p.m. ET A child rape case against a Lehigh County man can move forward to trial in York County. Austin Morley, 24, faces felony counts of child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and illegal use of a communication device from a York City police investigation. At Morley’s preliminary hearing April 30, District Court Judge James Morgan agreed that evidence is sufficient to serve as a basis for the charges, and that attorneys can argue the allegations before a jury should the case go to trial. Morgan ordered the case to advance into the York County Court of Common Pleas for the next stages in the judicial process. Investigators heard allegations in March 2023 that a 12-year-old juvenile had a sexual relationship with a man, including explicit messages on SnapChat and physical encounters. Police, with a warrant, searched the juvenile’s SnapChat records and then sought FBI assistance to analyze results of the search. The process apparently took more than a year until the FBI identified Morley as a suspect in November 2025, according to charging documents. Police interviewed Morley a few weeks later, and they allege he admitted then that he had sex with
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