A Carbon County man entered a guilty plea on Monday in the county court to a charge of indecent assault, rated as a felony 3, for an incident that occurred decades ago.

Jason T. Eckhart, 49, admitted to having sexual contact with a young girl in a time frame of 1985 to 1991. Eckhart listed a Lansford address when he was arrested, but told President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II that he is now homeless.

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 7-12, 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 7-12 years old. Eckhart was between 14-19 years old at the time.

At 5:10 p.m. Dec. 12, trooper Kevin Kriedler and De La Iglesia interviewed Eckhart while he was seated in his vehicle in the parking lot of his residence. As they approached his residence, Eckhart called them over to his vehicle and said that he was comfortable speaking with them while he was seated in his vehicle.

De La Iglesia informed Eckhart that he was investigating an incident from the 1980s that involved him and asked him if something inappropriate had happened. Eckhart said, “I kick myself over it every day.”

They continued to talk, and Eckhart 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 doesn’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.

Eckhart said that these events occurred before he was 19, and agreed that they probably happened during his teenage years.

At 3 p.m. Jan. 3, De La Iglesia interviewed another victim by phone, who said she was inappropriately touched by Eckhart when she was much younger.

In exchange for the plea the district attorney’s office dropped charges of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Eckhart mentioned that there was another case filed against him but the charges were dismissed. At that point his attorney, Matthew J. Rapa, told his client to stop talking.

He also said he didn’t remember any of the details of the incidents.

It was noted the victim and her family agreed to the plea agreement. The plea deal includes the stipulation that Eckhart be sentenced to 90 days in jail up to seven years. Nanovic, however, said he was not part of any deal and the sentence imposed is at his discretion.

Nanovic also questioned the grading of the charge being a felony 3, when the original count was a misdemeanor 2. He told both Rapa and the commonwealth to research the matter to see if changing the grade was legal.

Nanovic also said he felt the case falls under the provisions of Megan’s Law, relative to any period of registration as a sexual offender, something Rapa disputed. He also ordered Rapa to give him case law supporting his contention there is no registration period involved.

Nanovic deferred sentencing and ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report. He also ordered Eckhart be evaluated by the state sexual offenders assessment board.