CT man gets 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting autistic teen in Bristol
A man with a history as a sex offender has been convicted of sexually assaulting an autistic teenager in Bristol.
Philip Frost, 33, took a plea deal in New Britain Superior Court that required him to plead guilty to one count of second-degree sexual assault. He entered his plea under the Alford doctrine — meaning he disputes some of the allegations but acknowledges he would likely be convicted after a trial.
In exchange for the plea, one count of tampering with physical evidence was not pursued against the 33-year-old. A judge imposed a 10-year prison sentence during the hearing Tuesday and issued a stay of execution order so Frost could be turned over to federal custody, as he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of receipt of child pornography material during a hearing in 2020. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the federal child exploitation offense in March, according to federal authorities.
According to the Connecticut State Police, Frost admitted to investigators that he went to an autistic boy’s Bristol home in September 2019 and performed a sex act on him.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit in the Bristol matter, the investigation began in October 2019, when Frost’s parole officer contacted state police and said he was overheard by his halfway house roommate talking sexually over the phone to someone who sounded very young. Frost, the affidavit said, admitted to having child pornography and conducting talks that were sexual in nature with the Bristol teen.
Frost was free on special parole at the time, having been convicted in 2016 of second-degree possession of child pornography. He was sentenced in that case to 30 months in prison, followed by 36 months of special parole.
During the Bristol investigation, state police inspected the cell phones belonging to both Frost and the victim. On Frost’s phone, police reported finding 478 pornographic images or videos, plus 11 images or videos of suspected child pornography that appear to show children between the ages of 9 and 12 engaging in sex acts, the affidavit said.
During an interview in October 2019, the affidavit said, Frost admitted that he exchanged explicit photos with the teen. He also said he had been having sexual conversations with him for about two months and that their sexual relationship was “acted out online only,” as he was going to wait for the boy to turn 16 years old — the legal age of consent in Connecticut — before having sex with him, according to the affidavit.
Frost told police he had given the boy his “Obama” phone so the two could communicate, the affidavit said. He also said he had deleted the conversations between them, according to the affidavit.
During a subsequent interview in November 2019, state police confronted Frost about text messages between him and the victim that alluded to their meeting and discussing engaging in sexual acts, according to the affidavit. He then admitted that he had performed a sex act on the boy in September of that year at his Bristol home, the affidavit said.
Frost, formerly of Bristol, was last residing in a halfway house in Hartford before he was arrested in February 2020 in connection with the sexual assault. He has been in custody since and was also charged by federal officials for having child pornography on his cell phone.