A Lansford man entered a guilty plea in Carbon County court on Monday to a charge of simple assault while sexual assault counts were dropped in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

Kenneth Monks Jr., 39, pleaded to the charge before President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II. In exchange for the plea, charges of corruption of a minor, a felony 3; and two counts of indecent assault, misdemeanors 1 and 2, and another simple assault charge were dropped.

Monks was charged by Lansford police on Aug. 1, 2017, for incidents involving a then 9-year-old female. At the time of his arrest, police said the girl accused Monks of assaulting her at a residence in the borough. The girl said that Monks was drinking the night in question and had his two daughters sleeping over for the weekend at his house in Lansford. The assault was said to have taken place after Monks made the two girls sleep in his bedroom and placed a mattress on the floor, which was where the victim had fallen asleep.

The victim said that sometime in the early morning hours she was awakened by a very strong odor of alcohol and warm breath on her neck and woke up to find Monks kneeling over her. She said Monks then pinned her down and tried kissing her and touched her inappropriately.

Assistant District Attorney Brian B. Gazo, who prosecuted the case, said the victim and her mother agreed to the plea bargain. It was noted that the mother and Monks are involved in a custody dispute.

Nanovic placed him on probation for a year and ordered he get a drug and alcohol evaluation, supply a DNA sample, pay court costs of over $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation.