Bucks molester investigated for possible witness tampering

Walter Meyerle, the tattoo artist convicted of sexually assaulting 15 children over more than a decade, is under investigation for possible witness tampering, Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said Friday.

"My office is looking into the question of whether he or his agents may have sought to do illegal things to influence the proceedings against him," Heckler said. "It is an ongoing investigation; county detectives are involved."

Heckler declined to say when the investigation started and whether a county grand jury is investigating Meyerle. The grand jury and its proceedings "are secret, and it's not proper to say anything about what it's doing," he said.

Meyerle's lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Meyerle is being held in the county prison, awaiting sentencing on Jan. 24 on 170 counts of molesting boys and girls ages 4 to 17 from 1997 to 2010. He faces life in prison, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn has said.

He also is awaiting sentencing for plotting to escape from prison before his August trial in county court.

None of Meyerle's victims took the witness stand during the weeklong non-jury trial, but their accounts were read into the court record.

Meyerle preyed on the children while he lived in Bensalem, Bristol and Falls Townships and Bristol Borough, according to the testimony. Many of his victims had parents with drug and alcohol dependency problems, and he controlled the children with a combination of attention and threats.

Meyerle declined to present a defense at trial, pinning his chances on an appeal.

Goodwin and co-counsel Craig Penglase, both appointed by the court, no longer represent Meyerle, Penglase said Friday. Doylestown lawyer Stuart Wilder is handling his appeal to Superior Court, according to county records.

Wilder did not return phone and e-mail requests for comment.