Central Pa. man pleads no contest to charges he sexually molested 3 young girls

A central Pennsylvania man pleaded no contest Tuesday afternoon to charges that he spent years sexually molested three young girls.

Michael Kauffman, 40, of Lititz, entered that plea before Cumberland County Judge Christylee Peck as part of a plea deal that will net him a 5- to 10-year state prison sentence.

Kauffman’s plea to felony counts of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault and child endangerment came 18 months after state police arrested him.

Prosecutor Courtney Hair LaRue said all three victims were younger than 13 and that Kauffman was accused of committing the crimes multiple times at multiple sites in the county between January of 2011 and October 2019.

The plea agreement, which also calls for Kauffman to serve a consecutive 10 years of probation and register with state police as a sex offender for life, was discussed “quite extensively” with the victims, LaRue said.

“The victims are in agreement with this plea,” she said, adding that it will spare the victims the trauma of having to testify at a trial.

Several supporters of the victims watched Tuesday’s hearing via Zoom.

Defense attorney Allan Sodomsky said that while Kauffman concedes prosecutors could prove the charges against him beyond a reasonable doubt at trial “he doesn’t admit that he did it.”

The plea agreement calls for the dismissal of 15 other charges, including rape of a child, that were lodged against Kauffman. Had he been convicted of all of those counts, he would have faced decades in prison.

Peck is to sentence Kauffman in August after he is evaluated to determine whether he should be labeled a sexually violent predator, the most dangerous and incorrigible type of sex offender.

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