A Carbon County man admitted in the county court on Thursday that he had sexually assaulted two young girls in separate incidents.

Heinz Rausch, 70, of Palmerton, entered pleas in two pending cases before President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II. Because the cases fall under the provisions of Megan's Law, sentencing was deferred as Rausch must undergo a sexual offenders evaluation by the state sexual assessment board. If the board determines he is a violent sexual predator he must register for life as a sexual offender. If the board determines he is not a sexual predator, then he must register for 15 years.Palmerton police officer Kevin Buck charged that Rausch had sexually assaulted two girls, ages 5 and 8 at the time.Family members of the victims reported the incidents to Buck who conducted a thorough investigation. He also contacted the Children's Advocacy Center in Scranton, who had him bring the two victims to the center where they were interviewed and examined medically.In the case of the 5-year-old, Buck charged that the victim's sexual contacts occurred in a hot tub with Rausch and a bedroom. In the second case, the 8-year-old claimed that Rausch had touched in her private area and she would tell him to stop, which he did, but then would do it again.The incidents with the 8-year-old girl occurred over a time span of September 2010 to December 2011. With the five-year-old the contacts occurred during the time span of April to September 2011.Rausch pleaded to two counts of indecent assault and one count of indecent exposure and corruption of a minor, misdemeanors, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both felonies.Nanovic also ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report prior to sentencing.Assistant District Attorney Jean Engler told Nanovic that the parents of the two victims were present in the courtroom but did not want to speak at this time.Rausch said little during the proceeding except to say, "I feel very embarrassed. I'm sorry for what I did."Nanovic said Rausch could make a statement at the time of sentencing.Rausch has been in jail since his arrest in 2012.