A former Lansford man was sentenced in Carbon County court on Thursday to a county prison term in a case of sexual assault dating back over 35 years ago.

Jason T. Eckhart, 49, who said he was homeless but also said he was now living in a shelter in Stroudsburg, was sentenced to serve 90 days to 23 months in prison followed by five years of probation.

President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II went along with a plea deal with the district attorney’s office that called for the sentence imposed.

Before the start of the proceeding, Nanovic vacated a prior guilty plea made by Eckhart in June 2020 to one count of indecent assault, rated a felony 3. Nanovic said that there was a problem with the grading of the charge and met with defense attorney Matthew J. Rapa and Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Ann Dyrda Hatton. After a discussion, it was agreed that Eckhart would enter a plea to one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, rated a felony 3.

Case history

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Nicolas De La Iglesia of Lehighton barracks:

On Dec. 10, 2019, the victim said that when she was between the ages of 7 and 12, she was sexually assaulted by Eckhart. The victim said that Eckhart threatened to hurt her if she told on him. She said incidents occurred 10-20 times when she was between 7 and 12 years old. Eckhart was between 14 and 19 years old at the time.

Troopers later interviewed Eckhart and informed him they were investigating an incident from the 1980s that involved him and asked him if something inappropriate had happened. The troopers continued to talk to Eckhart and he said he had touched the victim, as well as several other victims, in a sexual manner when he was younger. De La Iglesia told Eckhart that the victim had accused him of sexually assaulting her, and he initially denied it.

Eckhart then said that he didn’t remember the details of the sexual acts because it was so long ago. Eckhart agreed to make an audio recorded statement and again confessed to inappropriate sexual acts with three victims.

In exchange for the plea, the district attorney’s office dropped charges of rape and indecent assault.

Rapa told Nanovic that Eckhart cooperated with the investigation after being confronted by the troopers. He said a discussion was held as early as at the preliminary hearing on a plea deal.

Eckhart, who admitted to mental health problems, told the court, “I’m just trying to do my best. I just want to get it over.” Eckhart said he is receiving counseling for his mental health issues and is on medication.

Nanovic said he agreed with the plea agreement, saying that because of the elapsed time between when the incidents occurred and they were brought to the attention of police, it would be a difficult case for the commonwealth to prosecute.

In addition to the jail term, Nanovic ordered Eckhart to supply a DNA sample, get a mental health evaluation but noted a report from his present counseling sessions would probably be enough, attend and successfully complete an anger management course, submit to a sexual offenders evaluation, have no contact with the victims, have no unsupervised contact with minors, continue his counseling sessions and pay court costs of about $1,000.

The jail term will begin at 10 a.m. on Feb. 12. The delay in the start of the prison term is due to COVID-19 problems at the county prison.