A Bucks County man who has remained in jail for more months for allegedly drugging and raping women who he met online faces more accusers. NBC10’s Deanna Durante has the details.
More women have come forward accusing a Bucks County man of drugging and raping them after meeting them online.
Andrew Gallo, 40, of Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, was arrested in September after he allegedly assaulted six women he met on dating websites such as Hinge, Plenty of Fish and Sugar Daddy Meet.
Andrew Gallo
Police said on multiple occasions, Gallo drugged the drinks of women and then sexually assaulted them at his home, in some incidents for multiple days.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
"Over the course of a year, this defendant invited women to his home in Bristol Township where he surreptitiously hid dangerous drugs in alcohol," the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.
At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said they found women who had been abused more than a year ago. As the investigation continued however, they uncovered more victims who said they were victimized as far back as 2018.
Gallo has remained in jail since his September arrest and no longer has his belongings at the house where the alleged attacks occurred.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.
Since Gallo’s arrest, six more victims have come forward, accusing him of drugging and raping them. Some of the victims also showed investigators photos of bruising they accused Gallo of causing, according to investigators.
“We started out with charging on six women and through the help of this case getting out there and getting attention, six additional women did come forward and provided similar tales with corroboration in their medical records,” Kristin McElroy, a prosecutor in the case, told NBC10. “Bringing them to his house. Isolating them there and then things took a really dark turn. But all really tell a very similar tale about the things that would happen to them when they got back to his home.”
On Monday, Nov. 25, all 12 of Gallo's alleged victims appeared in court for his scheduled hearing. Prosecutors said Gallo also appeared in court but decided at the last minute to not face his alleged victims and waived his hearing.
Investigators said new evidence presented during the hearing included secret recordings that Gallo made in an attempt to monitor conversations between one of the victims and her friends. The evidence also included a message Gallo sent to one of his victims in which he apologized for secretly recording her, according to investigators. That woman also accused him of drugging her, prosecutors said.
Gallo consented for prosecutors to take his DNA. His defense lawyer, Keith Williams, told NBC10 his client does not deny meeting the women or having sex with them.
“He’s not disputing that he had sexual intercourse with these women. That’s not the issue,” Williams said.
Prosecutors said the women were drugged without their knowledge, however, making it impossible for them to consent to sex.
When asked about evidence the prosecution said showed Gallo admitting to drugging at least one of the victims, Williams told NBC10 he had no comment.
