Serial molester loses first bid at new trial

Bucks County's most infamous child molester has lost his first bid to get a new trial on charges that he molested 15 kids, including one as young as 4 years old.

In a decision released last week, Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons rebuked Walter Meyerle's motion for a new trial, although it will proceed to a state appellate court.

Meyerle claimed the trial court made several mistakes. For instance, he alleged that his computer, which contained child pornography, should not have been allowed as evidence because the search warrant contained the wrong serial number.

He also contended that one of his victims lied to police when she said that she and another girl texted revealing photographs to him. Meyerle claimed his phone, which police seized, lacked those images. But Gibbons wrote that both girls corroborated each other's story. And phone records showed 43 multimedia text messages were exchanged between Meyerle and one of the girls.

In January, Meyerle, 36, was sentenced to 494 ½ years to 989 years in prison.