Guilty plea given in sex assault case
A Center Township man charged with sexually assaulting a young girl between 2003 and 2013 pleaded guilty in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
Michael D. Hedglin, 45, pleaded guilty to felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse before Judge Timothy McCune.
The plea agreement calls for 4½ to 11 years in state prison, as well as payment of restitution and court costs. He will also be subjected to lifetime registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Hedglin is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 18.
He was initially charged with felony rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with serious bodily injury, endangering welfare of children, corruption of minors, misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and indecent exposure, as well as other sexual assault-related charges.
Hedglin was accused of sexually assaulting a young girl when she was 3-years-old in 2003, and again in 2013, when she was 13.
Police arrested Hedglin a day after his accuser, who is now 17, detailed her allegations in an interview with authorities.
The girl only recently disclosed the alleged assault to a clergy member at her church, and later told a forensic interviewer with the Butler County Alliance for Children about what happened — the first time in Butler Township and about 10 years later in Center Township.
She recounted that Hedglin told her not to tell anyone, police said.
Police said Hedglin admitted to the sexual contact in a police interview.
He was arrested, arraigned and held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 cash bail.