HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge issued bench warrants across three cases against a Hollidaysburg man charged with child sexual abuse and related offenses after allegedly having sexual intercourse on numerous occasions with a 17-year-old.

Kyler Felix Bem, 19, was scheduled for plea court Friday morning in front of Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard but failed to appear. He has remained free on $100,000; $25,000; and $10,000 unsecured bails since his first case was filed in March 2025.

Bem faces a felony count of interference with the custody of children and a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors in one case; a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia in a second case; and two felony counts each of child sexual abuse material, sexual abuse of a minor and photographing, videotaping, depicting on computer or filming sexual acts of a minor in a third case.

Defense attorney Devin Bennati told Bernard that Grabill Law Offices had sent Bem several letters regarding his court proceedings but received no reply. He said the office had been trying to get in contact with Bem, but they hadn’t heard from him since before December 2025.

Online court documents show that Bem has been scheduled for plea court in front of Bernard four times since Dec. 23, 2025.

When Bem’s cases were called forward for his plea hearing, Bennati told Bernard they “were not ripe for a plea.”

Bennati said he and the District Attorney’s Office had been going back and forth in trying to reach a resolution but had been unable to due to Bem’s ongoing absence. He also told Bernard that Bem was behind on his payments to costs and fines.

Assistant District Attorney Dani McCormick informed the court that the plea offer previously extended by the DA’s Office was withdrawn.

Bernard subsequently issued bench warrants for Bem’s arrest in all three cases.

The child sexual abuse charges were brought against Bem following an investigation started by Hollidaysburg police on Jan. 17, 2025, after they were contacted by the 17-year-old victim’s mother, reporting that the victim never entered Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School after being dropped off early that morning.

Police contacted district officials, who confirmed the victim was spotted on cameras being dropped off at the high school, but walked in the direction of C.W. Longer Elementary School instead. A district administrator advised police that the victim and Bem were allegedly in a relationship and that Bem had not been at school since the previous Friday.

The victim’s mother told police she found a black cellphone in the victim’s room that did not belong to her, but had the same passcode as the victim’s phone. She also reported receiving a message that said “hello, this is (the victim), I am okay and I am at a friend’s house, I heard you’re looking for me.” The victim’s mother responded to the message “(the victim) has her phone so she would call me from that” but received no reply.

Officers obtained a search warrant for Bem’s residence on Jan. 18 and found the victim. Police seized Bem’s and the victim’s phones before retrieving the black cellphone from the victim’s mother, court documents state.

Bem’s cellphone revealed a screenshot of the victim’s missing persons report posted to the Hollidaysburg police’s Facebook page, TikTok searches for “tips for running away as a kid” and about 325 sexually explicit images and videos of the victim. Officers also located about 15 explicit images and videos of a second 17-year-old victim, the police report states.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.