Police: N.E. Phila. man used MySpace to lure girls

Police have arrested a 33-year-old Northeast Philadelphia man on charges of sexual assault and other offenses, saying he tried to solicit sex from teenage girls he met online.

Vincent Mickle, a volunteer girls' soccer coach, arranged face-to-face meetings with several teen girls, then bought them alcohol or marijuana and attempted to have sex with them, said Philadelphia Police Lt. Tom McDevitt of the Special Victims Unit.

Mickle, of the 3200 block of Teesdale Street, has coached for the Lighthouse Soccer Club in the Northeast, a nonprofit youth organization. Police said he was not suspected of approaching any of the girls he coached. Club representatives could not be reached for comment.

Mickle allegedly met girls on the social-networking site MySpace, befriended them, and communicated with them online and by telephone.

He came to the attention of police after a 16-year-old girl reported him in October. The girl told police that she met him on MySpace in 2008, and that he claimed he was 18. In July 2008, she said, she met with him in the Northeast, near Frankford and Cottman Avenues. She brought friends with her, McDevitt said, and Mickle gave them liquor.

Mickle allegedly solicited sex from the girl, but she said no. "At that point, she had realized he was in his 30s," McDevitt said.

In October, Mickle showed up at one of the girl's field hockey games, alarming her enough to report him to police.

Investigators first attempted to snag Mickle through undercover work, but were unsuccessful, McDevitt said. Police eventually obtained a search warrant, seized his computer, and located five other alleged victims.

The girls, 14 to 16, each told police they met Mickle online, and some said they had exchanged sexually explicit photos with him.

Eventually, the girls said, they met in person, and the girls told police Mickle solicited sex and supplied some with alcohol or marijuana. He had sexual contact with at least one girl, McDevitt said.

Mickle was arrested Monday night, police said. In addition to a charge of statutory sexual assault, he faces charges of indecent exposure, corrupting the morals of a minor, and related offenses.