A Wallingford man accused of sexually abusing a juvenile girl and secretly filming her in a bathroom has waived his preliminary hearing on all charges, moving his case directly toward formal arraignment in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Eric C. Fransen, 50, faces 150 invasion-of-privacy counts, three counts of indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old, and corruption of minors in connection with allegations that span more than a decade.
According to a report from the Delco Times, which credits Pete Bannan with contributing to the story, the case began when the alleged victim contacted Nether Providence Sgt. Michael Markunas after discovering two cellphones containing nude images and videos of herself. She reportedly had received the phones three years earlier but waited to open them, only later reporting that she had been sexually abused during her adolescence and providing police with a timeline describing abuse from 2012 to 2023.
Investigators say they found 170 images and videos of the alleged victim naked that appeared to have been taken by a hidden camera in a bathroom, per the same report. The investigation reportedly found the videos had been downloaded to a computer, and that Fransen recorded the computer screen with his own phone, with his face appearing at the conclusion of several of the videos.
Multi-Agency Investigation Led to September Arrest
The Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Child Abuse Task Force investigated the allegations, and the criminal complaint was filed by CID Detective Sgt. Steve Bannar along with Markunas, the Delco Times reports. The task force includes law-enforcement officers from across Delaware County and assists in child-abuse investigations, according to Newtown Township.
When law enforcement served the arrest warrant on September 1, members of the task force and Nether Providence Township police executed it at Fransen's Martrory Lane residence at approximately 7:39 a.m., according to the Nether Providence Police Department. Fransen was initially arraigned and committed in lieu of 10 percent of $50,000 bail before District Judge Sloan Walker later set bail at $500,000 cash, the department noted. He remains in custody at the county jail in Concord, the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, which the Philadelphia Inquirer reports returned to direct Delaware County administration in April 2022 after the county ended its contract with private operator GEO Group.
Defense Attorney's Prosecutorial Background
Fransen is represented by defense counsel Joseph Lesniak, who previously spent more than nine years as an assistant district attorney in Delaware County, where he led the Special Victims and Domestic Violence Division and served as lead prosecutor for the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to his own firm, the Law Offices of Joseph Lesniak.
Fransen waived his preliminary hearing. Assistant District Attorney Danielle Kitzinger is prosecuting the charges, per the Delco Times report.
Formal Arraignment, Separate Assault Case Loom
Fransen is scheduled for formal arraignment on October 28.
Separately, Fransen also faces charges of simple assault, possessing an instrument of crime with intent, and reckless endangerment stemming from a June 16 incident in Nether Providence, the Delco Times reports. Those misdemeanor charges are evaluated apart from the child abuse task force case, and Fransen has an October 15 preliminary hearing scheduled before District Judge Georgia L. Stone specifically on those counts.
