NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The former Skippack Township supervisor and daycare director accused of molesting a child for the better part of decade rejected a guilty plea that could have significantly reduced his potential prison sentence if he’s convicted.
Nicholas Fountain, 39, was expected to plead guilty on Wednesday to an offer from prosecutors that would have capped his prison sentence at 20-50 years. At the last minute, however, his lawyers informed the court he would not be accepting the offer, opening himself to a potential mandatory minimum prison term of over 100 years.
Fountain was originally arrested last September on charges filed in Maryland, accusing him of soliciting who he thought was a 14-year-old boy online, but was actually a detective.
When Pennsylvania State Police were serving warrants related to that case, an accuser came forward in Montgomery County saying Fountain had sexually abused him starting in 2016 when he was nine years old and continuing until he was 16 in 2023. Charging documents said Fountain confessed to those accusations.
His lawyers are filing a motion hoping to suppress that statement to police, while also challenging the charges on statutes of limitations.
Prosecutor Lauren Marvel said the offer is now off the table as they prepare for trial. “In any case a plea agreement can remove the need for someone to testify as opposed to going to trial, but we look forward to meeting the charges.”
In court, Marvel said prosecutors plan to file a motion asking for a 10-year minimum on each of the 10 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a person under the age of 16. Fountain is charged with 57 counts in total. Thirty-two of them are felonies.
Fountain was on the Skippack Township Board of Supervisors when he was arrested, and also owned two daycare centers, in Skippack and Gilbertsville.
