By Marcia Moore
The Daily Item
June 02, 2009 10:25 am
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MIDDLEBURG -- A 19-year-old Watsontown man set to go on trial Monday for felony rape and related charges avoided having a jury decide his fate and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense.
Jordan W. Younkin pleaded guilty to indecent assault by forcible compulsion, admitting he assaulted an 18-year-old woman behind a Monroe Township department store May 9, 2008.
District Attorney Michael Sholley said the victim and her mother supported the plea after he outlined the possible outcomes of a trial, compared to a guilty plea.
The victim, whose identity is being withheld due to the nature of the assault, stood in the courtroom packed with supporters of both her and the defendant and told President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr. she agreed to the plea.
The charge carries a maximum five-year state prison sentence, but the plea allows Younkin to serve any sentence he may receive in the Snyder County jail and receive probation.
The commonwealth agreed to drop the other charges, all felonies, rape; two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault.
Even though Younkin pleaded guilty to the least serious charge of misdemeanor indecent assault, it's a Megan's Law offense that requires registration as a sex offender for 10 years.
Younkin, who is represented by Williamsport attorney Michael Rundinski, has been free on $25,000 cash bail for more than a year since his arrest.
He will be sentenced in about 90 days following an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender's Board.
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