MERCER COUNTY Sentence in assault on girl

The girl told police she eventually told her mother about the assaults.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- A former Mercer County Jail guard who pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl has been ordered to six years' probation and 300 hours of community service.
Armand P. Brenneman, 45, of Clark, was originally charged in April with two counts of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, one count of attempted sexual assault, two counts of aggravated indecent assault, 12 counts of indecent assault, and five counts of corruption of minors.
Brenneman is the son of Mercer County Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman.
The case was turned over to a visiting judge and was prosecuted by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office because of Brenneman's link with the county judicial system.
Plea deal: The case had been held for trial, but in a plea bargain arranged with the attorney general's office, Brenneman pleaded guilty to seven first-degree misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, seven second-degree misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, and four first-degree misdemeanor counts of corrupting the morals of a minor.
All other charges were dropped. Atty. Margaret Cassidy, an assistant with the attorney general's office, handled the case.
The victim told authorities Brenneman sexually assaulted her several times in June and July of last year. She said the assaults occurred at her home in Sheakleyville, Brenneman's home in Hermitage at the time, and the girl's grandmother's home, also in Sheakleyville.
The girl initially told no one, but eventually confided in two Internet correspondents who urged her to tell someone in authority. The girl said she eventually told her mother.