NORRISTOWN — A Bucks County man has some time behind bars in his future in connection with allegations that he had indecent contact with an underage girl in Horsham Township more than two decades ago.
Steven J. Wiley, 61, who listed an address in the 4800 block of Old Easton Road, Doylestown, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after he pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age in connection with incidents that occurred between 1999 and 2002 in Horsham Township.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is an admission that prosecutors could present sufficient evidence to convict at trial. Under the law, a no contest plea is still considered a conviction.
Wiley entered the no contest plea shortly before jury selection was to begin for his trial.
Judge Thomas P. Rogers, who accepted the plea agreement in the case, ordered Wiley to report to the jail in Lower Providence on July 12 to begin serving the sentence.
The judge said Wiley also must complete eight years of probation following parole, meaning Wiley will be under court supervision for 10 years.
Additionally, Wiley faces a 10-year requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, formerly known as Megan’s Law.
Wiley must undergo a psychosexual evaluation and comply with all recommendations for treatment, the judge said.
As a condition of the plea agreement, Wiley is prohibited from having contact with the victim and her family. The judge ordered Wiley to have no contact with minors while under court supervision.
Court papers indicate that an investigation of Wiley began in July 2019 when Horsham Township detectives received information that Wiley had indecent contact with a girl, who was between the ages of 7 and 9, on several occasions between 1999 and 2002 when the girl was in his company at locations in Horsham.
In September 2019, detectives interviewed the victim, now in her 20s, who recalled that Wiley touched her in an indecent manner on several occasions when she was a child and in his company, according to the criminal complaint filed by Horsham Township Detective Michael E. Peter.
“While he was doing this, he would encourage her to touch him, making it like a game,” Peter wrote in the arrest affidavit.
Other charges of aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent exposure, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of a minor were dismissed against Wiley as part of the plea agreement.
Assistant District Attorney Caroline Goldstein prosecuted the case. Defense lawyer Steven Michael Jones represented Wiley.