A “house parent” working for a non-profit community organization based in Trevose is accused of sexually assaulting a teen boy in her care and providing him with guns, money and marijuana
Cristal Betancourt, 30, of Staten Island, was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Daniel Baranoski on 18 felony counts of institutional sexual assault of a minor, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children, and other related offenses.
According to the probable cause the investigation was launched in January 2025 when police in Lancaster County, PA spotted a photo of Betancourt with a 16-year-old boy who was allegedly holding a gun.
Police said the boy was on probation at the time.
While the 16-year-old was originally from Lancaster County, he was staying at a home in Feasterville, operated by the Community Service Foundation (CSF), which provides housing and behavioral health services for troubled teens.
The teen boys who live at the Feasterville home are court mandated to be there fulltime in order to complete a rehab program to prepare them to return to their homes and communities.
Betancourt served as a “house parent” at the Feasterville site, police said, and lived with the teens in order to give them structure and provide supportive services, police said in court papers. Betancourt was also responsible for recommending to CSF which teens behaved well enough for them to receive passes allowing for home, holidays, or family visits back in their communities.
The teens who stay at the home are considered to be in the legal custody of the state and are often from areas outside of Buck County.
After Lower Southampton Police received the report from Lancaster County authorities in January 2025, they interviewed Betancourt who allegedly admitted to owning two handguns inside the Feasterville home.
Police, according to court papers, initially only found one of the two guns at the home. \
Betancourt told them her other gun had been stolen, according to the criminal complaint, and appeared to be the same one in the photo that the teen boy was holding, investigators said.
Police later interviewed the teenager and obtained his cellphone.
Through interviews as well as photos and messages on the phone, investigators said Betancourt was engaged in a sexual relationship with the teen between November 2024 and December 2024, according to the, probable cause.
Detectives believe the incidents took place at the Feasterville site.
The teen, according to investigators, said Betancourt bribed him with guns, money and weed in exchange for sex, police allege. The teen said that on one occasion Betancourt pointed a gun to his head in order to force him to have sex with her, according to investigators, calling her “crazy” in court papers.
The teenager alleged Betancourt told him in December 2024 that she was pregnant by him and asked him for money to pay for Plan B medication, according to the criminal complaint.
Betancourt, according to police, brought the teen to a gun shop in Lower Southampton Township to shop for firearms and that it was the same store where she bought one of her handguns.
According to the criminal complaint CSF employees, told investigators Betancourt was aware the teen boy was on probation and not allowed to have firearms due to his criminal record. They also said house parents were not allowed to keep guns inside the Feasterville home and that Betancourt drove the teen to Lancaster County without the programs permission.
CSF,according to police, also said that in late December 2024, they contacted Betancourt and asked if the teen boy was with her, she said they were at the Costco in Warminster but cellphone data showed they were actually in Lancaster County.
Investigators alleged tere were myriad financial transactions between Betancourt and the teen despite house parents not being allowed to give the boys money or receive money from them.
Betancourt was arrested Tuesday and se was remanded to Bucks County Correctional Facility unable to post 1o percent of te $1 million bail set by Judge Barnowski
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