A local theater director is facing charges involving inappropriate behavior with a minor.
Mark Drey, 55, of the 800 block of Fernleigh Place in Exeter, faces felony charges after allegedly having sexual contact with a teenage boy in the youth theater group. Drey is the director and co-founder of the Birdsboro theater group Alpha/Omega Players based in Birdsboro.
In March 2014, Drey began fostering a relationship with the young boy by engaging in sexual conversations and exchanging explicit photos via text message on at least two occasions, according to court documents. Drey inappropriately touched the boy while in a dressing room, according to police. On Sept. 9, Drey agreed to speak with detectives while at the Alpha/Omega Performing Arts Center at 301 East First St. where he explained he had known the victim for the past two years, police said.
Drey claimed that in May the victim had come to him to ask questions and talk to him about his sexuality and that the victim was infatuated with him. Drey then explained that he saw himself as a mentor for the boy but that ‘it turned weird’ in mid-May and their conversations became inappropriate, according to police.
Drey admitted to exchanging nude photos with the boy and described one incident where he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with the boy, according to court documents. Drey stated several times, ‘It was a mistake, I should have not let it happen,’ according to police reports.
On Sept. 9, after presenting Drey with a search warrant for his cell phone, Drey allegedly admitted that the nude photos in his phone were photos of himself and that those were the pictures he had sent to the victim, according to court documents.
Drey faces charges of endangering the welfare of children, indecent assault on a person under age 16, corruption of minors, and unlawful contact with a minor. His preliminary arraignment on the charges was held Tuesday. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 30 before District Judge David E. Glass. Drey was unable to post the $200,000 cash bail and is being held in Berks County Prison.
