Cody Weckerly, 27, of Venango Township, who was charged in January with sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl repeatedly, was ordered to a competency restoration program at the Butler County Prison following a competency hearing Thursday, Sept. 26. The program will attempt to habilitate Weckerly to a point he is competent to stand trial.

The competency hearing was originally scheduled for July, before being pushed back to August, and finally being carried out Thursday afternoon in front of Judge Timothy McCune.

The private health company Merakey will carry out the competency restoration program.

Weckerly was charged on Jan. 31 with six counts of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, and six counts of corruption of minors with a defendant less than 13 years of age.

Dr. Curtis Mayernik, based in Harrisburg, performed the competency evaluation on April 11 at the Butler prison. Mayernik determined Weckerly was not presently competent to stand trial for a multitude of reasons but could conceivably be re-educated to the point where a trial was possible.

Mayernik said he diagnosed Weckerly with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and intellectual disability/deficiency disorder.

“I was left with the distinct impression that he was not competent to move forward,” Mayernik said. “He may well be educable.”