A former Jim Thorpe man pleaded guilty on Thursday in Carbon County court to a charge of rape and is facing a long state prison term at the time of sentencing.

James Acevedo-Schneider, 26, now an inmate at the state correctional institution at Waymart, Wayne County, entered a plea before Judge Steven R. Serfass.In a plea bargain with the district attorney's office, the commonwealth dropped a total of 143 counts of various sexual offenses including rape of a child, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault without consent, indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.The plea bargain also calls for a state prison term of five to 10 years.Jim Thorpe police charged that Acevedo-Schneider began sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl during the time frame of April 2000 through January 2006.The victim, a relative of the defendant, told investigators he sexually assaulted her from the time she was 5 until she was 11 in a home in the borough.Serfass accepted the plea but deferred sentencing because the charge falls under the provisions of Megan's Law.The defendant must be evaluated by the state sexual offenders assessment board to determine if he is a violent sexual predator. He is facing a lifetime registration period as a sexual offender.Acevedo-Schneider is currently serving a one- to four-year state prison term imposed in Lackawanna County on a corruption of a minor charge.