An Effort man entered a guilty plea to a reduced charged in Carbon County court on Tuesday in an indecent assault case and was placed on probation.

William E. Harkleroad, 46, pleaded to one count of harassment - communication in lewd and threatening manner, in exchange for charges of indecent assault - person less than 13 years of and indecent assault without concerns of other, were dropped in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.

Harkleroad was charged by Lehighton police for an incident on Dec. 21, 2020. The harassment charge was added to the original complaint.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Matt Arner:

On Dec. 21, 2020, a 12-year-old girl said she was touched inappropriately by a man at a business in the 100 block of North First Street. The victim said that she and her family were invited to the business for a holiday party, and that along with her family, other employees, family members and friends were at the business. She said she spent most of the time with her family in the main room of the business.

The victim said at one point she walked to another room of the business to look at the Christmas decorations, when she saw a man, identified as Harkleroad, sitting alone in a back room. She said she went to the room to say hello as she had talked to him previously. That’s when he touched her inappropriately.

On Dec. 23, Arner interviewed Harkleroad and he admitted to being at the store on that date for the holiday party and said that he moved to a back room to talk to his girlfriend over the phone. He said that the victim came into the back room where he was sitting, as they knew each other, and started calling him “Baldy.”

Harkleroad said that he reached over to her and started tickling her sides, and that he gave her a hug and started tickling her again. He said that she sat on his lap, and that while there, he began tickling the inside of her knees, and when asked if he tickled any further than the knees, he said, “I’m not sure if I did,” and “If I did touch her, I didn’t mean to.”

Serfass placed Harkleroad on probation for a year and ordered he have no contact with the victim, get a mental health evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, pay court costs of over $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation and render 50 hours of community service.