Crime

Registered Hempfield Township sex offender charged with inappropriately messaging girls

September 6, 2023 / 2:35 PM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh

Registered sex offender in Hempfield Township charged with inappropriately messaging girls

HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- A registered sex offender in Hempfield Township is facing charges after police said he sent at least two girls inappropriate messages on social media.

The Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office said Jonathan Hoover befriended a 14-year-old girl from Texas and a 12-year-old girl from Utah on social media and solicited them for "sexual favors and explicit materials" over the course of several months.

Jonathan Hoover, a registered sex offender from Hempfield Township, is facing charges after the district attorney's office said he sent inappropriate requests and communications to at least two girls. (Photo: Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office)

Hoover is a convicted felon and registered sex offender after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in 2019, the district attorney's office said.

State police started investigating after getting a tip about a Megan's Law violation on Chapel Drive in Hempfield Township. The DA's office said investigators learned Hoover failed to register his social media accounts as required by his status as a sex offender.

He's charged with unlawful contact with a minor, dissemination of obscene and other sexual materials to minors, criminal use of a communication facility, failing to register with Pennsylvania State Police and corruption of minors.