A Carbon County judge sentenced an Allentown man to two years of probation last week after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge stemming from an alleged 2024 New Year’s Day sexual assault in Nesquehoning Borough.

Melvin Alexis Castro Nunez, 31, appeared before President Judge Roger Nanovic Friday for sentencing. Castro Nunez had entered a negotiated guilty plea in September to one count of indecent assault without consent of the other, a second-degree misdemeanor.

According to court papers, Nesquehoning police responded to St. Luke’s Miners Campus on Jan. 1, 2024, for a woman being treated for an assault. The woman told police that Castro Nunez was a guest at the home she shares with her fiancé for a New Year’s celebration. She told police she fell asleep on the couch after consuming several alcoholic drinks in a short time, becoming intoxicated.

Sometime during the night, she remembered waking up and Castro Nunez was assaulting her, court papers said. She told police that she tried to say no but was too intoxicated to get away.

She did not say anything to her fiancé until after he took Castro Nunez home, and knew she had to go to the hospital and report the incident, court papers said. Hospital personnel collected a sexual assault evidence kit and turned it over to police.

Officers interviewed Castro Nunez, who denied having sexual contact with the woman while at the home. After being informed that a rape kit was submitted for DNA testing, he admitted to having sex with the woman, court papers said.

Police obtained a search warrant for a DNA sample from Castro Nunez, and the sample matched evidence from the rape kit.

The charge to which he ultimately pleaded guilty was among the least serious of those originally filed against him. Prosecutors had initially charged Castro Nunez with sexual assault, two counts of aggravated indecent assault without consent, rape of an unconscious victim, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with an unconscious person, aggravated indecent assault of a complainant who is unconscious or unaware that penetration is occurring, and indecent assault of an unconscious person — charges spanning first- and second-degree felonies. Under the negotiated plea, all remaining counts were dismissed.

As conditions of sentencing, Castro Nunez was ordered to submit a DNA sample within 10 days and to supply the Pennsylvania State Police with fingerprints and a photograph and register under Megan’s Law, according to court records.

Court financial records show Castro Nunez owes a total of $3,954.46, including $3,014.78 in costs and fees and $939.68 in individual restitution.