Man charged in alleged Tinder date eye-gouging in Horsham had prior conviction for biting off man’s ear

James Worthington, 35, of Ambler, was held for trial on Tuesday on felony aggravated assault and other related charges stemming from a Tinder date gone wrong.

Fideri News Network first reported the Nov. 5 incident last month, when officers were dispatched to the 1200 block of Limekiln Pike for a reported seizure, but upon arrival heard the victim screaming and saw Worthington striking the victim, allegedly attempting to gouge her eye. 

Information now reveals the suspect has a history of violent behavior. 

In 2014, Worthington, who resided in Newtown at the time, was sentenced to three to six years in state prison after he bit off part of a man’s ear during a St. Patrick’s Day brawl in Newtown Township. The victim faced a 15-month recovery process and three additional surgeries to save the ear.

“James Worthington doesn’t even know who I am, and he sat on my chest and bit my neck and then my ear off,” the victim told the court a decade ago.

During that 2014 Bucks County Court hearing, testimony revealed that this was not Worthington’s first violent biting incident, as his own father acknowledged that his son could be “out of control.” When the prosecutor asked Worthington's mother of similar biting incidents in high school, she acknowledged that her son bit in self-defense, a similar defense, the prosecutor pointed out, that Worthington used during his trial.

That sentence also covered two additional offenses: assaulting his former girlfriend a month earlier and possessing anabolic steroids in 2013.

Recently, in 2024, Worthington entered a Northampton Township home where he assaulted a man, then attacked a woman when she attempted to help the man, according to an affidavit. In July he pleaded guilty in Bucks County court to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary harassment in the Northampton incident; he was sentenced to serve 24 months of  probation, according to the docket. The judge also ordered him to take anger management classes.

In 2010, Worthington bit a man’s arm during an altercation at a wedding, according to the prosecutor.

In November 2007, the then-17-year-old Worthington became aggressive with a driver who honked at him in traffic. Worthington put his car in park, got out, walked to the other car and punched the other driver, said James.

James said the man suffered a swollen eye and two chipped teeth and, after the incident, Worthington “walked back to his car and drove away.”