Matthew Bustin

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

A King of Prussia man has been sentenced for a stalking campaign so terrifying that it drove two women from their homes, authorities announced on Thursday, Aug. 14.

Matthew John Bustin, 34, was sentenced in Bucks County to nine to 23 months in county jail followed by seven years of probation after pleading guilty to stalking a woman in Bensalem. He is ineligible for parole until completing the H.O.P.E. substance abuse recovery program.

Bensalem Stalking Case

Deputy District Attorney Brittney Kern presented a timeline showing Bustin began researching the Bensalem victim before ever speaking to her. After they connected on a dating site, they spoke for six weeks before she blocked him over erratic behavior.

In April 2024, while the woman was on vacation, she returned to find her apartment dark, the power shut off, the internet disconnected, her security camera turned to face the wall — and, later, a note hidden in her pillows.

“I truly believed there was someone in my apartment with me,” she said in court. “This was a sick psychological game.”

She slept in the kitchen with a knife that night, filed a police report the next day, and moved out two days later. She later found a GPS tracker under her car — surveillance video showed Bustin lying under her vehicle at work to attach it. His phone pinged at her home and work on at least nine separate occasions, including the exact time her power was cut.

The emotional and financial toll rippled through her family as they helped her relocate, find the tracker, and attend court hearings. The victim called the timing of Bustin’s behavior disturbing, noting he contacted her shortly after being charged in another stalking case.

Bethlehem & Lehigh County Case

Bustin’s stalking spree began months earlier in December 2023 in Bethlehem, Lehigh County. A different woman found a GPS device on her vehicle, and Bustin admitted to planting it.

He had repeatedly tried to contact her on Instagram under various names, including aliases like “Meg” and “Megan.” When ignored, Bustin escalated: sending obscene candies, leaving flowers on her car, and approaching her in person at her apartment complex to ask for her number.

The woman worked at a local hospital and found the unwanted gifts at both home and work. Bethlehem police arrested Bustin, and in February 2025, he was sentenced to five to 24 months in jail and three years of probation in that case.

Criminal History & Additional Charges

Bustin also has a 2018 conviction in Lehigh County for Loitering and Prowling outside another ex-girlfriend’s home. He received 12 months of probation.

He is still awaiting trial in Bucks County for Burglary, Stalking, Criminal Trespass, and Harassment stemming from the Bensalem case. He was arrested on June 1, 2024, and remains jailed on 10% of $2 million bail.

As part of his sentence in Bucks County, Bustin is banned from using social media, must have no contact with the victim, and was ordered to pay $1,334.60 in restitution while complying with mental health and substance abuse requirements.