Aide sentenced for sexual contact with intellectually disabled Montgomery County woman

NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man will be under court supervision for about five years after he admitted to having sexual contact with a woman who had an intellectual disability while he worked for a company that provided support care for the victim while she resided at properties in Upper Merion and Whitemarsh townships.

Eric McClain-Carter, 36, of the 4700 block of North 13th Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail on a felony charge of institutional sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred between May 2022 and April 2024 with a woman who was in her early 20s and who became pregnant as a result of the contact.

Judge William R. Carpenter also ordered McClain-Carter to complete three years of probation, consecutive to parole, meaning McClain-Carter will be under court supervision for about five years.

McClain-Carter will receive credit for the time he spent in jail after his arrest in August 2024 and while awaiting court action on the charges.

McClain-Carter also faces a 15-year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The judge ordered McClain-Carter to have no contact with the victim and to comply with all recommendations for treatment and counseling stemming from a psychosexual evaluation.

Assistant District Attorney Bradley Walter Deckel sought jail time against McClain-Carter. Deckel previously said McClain-Carter was in a position of power and authority over the vulnerable victim and took advantage of his position to assault her.

In August 2020, McClain-Carter was hired as a direct support professional for Self Sufficient for Successful Living, a licensed company that provides residential services and support care for persons living with intellectual, developmental and mental health disabilities.

The company owned and operated properties in the 300 block of Reese Drive in Upper Merion Township and in the 100 block of Ridge Pike in Whitemarsh Township where the victim resided at various times between October 2020 and April 2024, according to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Merion Detective Brendan Dougherty and Whitemarsh Detective Greg Lattanze.

The victim reported that she and McClain-Carter began having a sexual relationship in 2020 while she lived at the Reese Drive property and while McClain-Carter worked there. The sexual relationship continued when the victim moved to the Ridge Pike property while McClain-Carter was still employed by the company “and had access to (the victim’s) new residence,” Dougherty and Lattanze wrote in the arrest affidavit.

The victim became pregnant and gave birth to a child in August 2023 and reported that McClain-Carter was the father of the baby, according to court documents.

Detectives said a review of the victim’s cellphone uncovered hundreds of text messages exchanged between McClain-Carter and the victim between May 2022 and April 2024. McClain-Carter sent numerous text messages to the victim “that were sexual in nature,” including requests for the victim to send him explicit videos and photographs of herself as well as sexually explicit messages about committing sex acts on the victim, according to the criminal complaint.

The messages also included invitations and logistical travel plans between McClain-Carter and the victim “regarding numerous concealed late-night trips” to McClain-Carter’s residence in Philadelphia as well as late-night visits by McClain-Carter to the victim’s bedroom while he was working at the Reese Drive residence in Upper Merion.

Detectives located test message conversations in which McClain-Carter told the victim that he loved her and messages discussing the victim’s pregnancy and the birth of her child. The messages included McClain-Carter referring to the victim as “BM,” which stands for “baby momma,” according to the arrest affidavit.