A Pine Grove man left prison Friday after a judge reduced his bail on charges he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in December 2011 in the borough.
Charles H. Lengle, 21, of 114 Shoreline Drive, posted $300, or 10 percent of the $3,000 bail set Friday by Judge John E. Domalakes, and a Schuylkill County Prison spokesman said the defendant has been released.
Domalakes reduced Lengle's bail from the $35,000 straight cash amount set by Magisterial District Judge Carol A. Pankake, Tremont, on April 20, the day Pine Grove police Chief Thomas J. Trotter IV filed charges of statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors against the defendant.
However, at the request of Assistant District Attorney Rebecca A. Elo, Domalakes also conditioned Lengle's bail on his having no contact with the alleged victim or any other girls younger than 18.
Police charged Lengle with sexually assaulting the girl, who was then 14 and is now 15, on Dec. 20, 2011, in a house in Pine Grove.
During Friday's 20-minute bail hearing before Domalakes, Lengle said he would live with his parents near Sweet Arrow Lake.
"Do you have any prior criminal record?" Frank R. Cori, Orwigsburg, Lengle's lawyer, asked him.
"No, I don't," Lengel answered.
"Do you have any drug or alcohol issues?"
"No, I don't"
Lengle's parents, Damon and Christine Lengle, each testified they could not afford to post much bail because they had lost their home in the borough during last year's flooding.
The bail hearing followed Thursday's one-hour preliminary hearing, at the end of which Pankake ordered all five charges against Lengle held for county court action.
At Thursday's hearing, Trotter testified the incident came to light April 2 when he was contacted by Pine Grove Area Middle School Principal Steve Brill, who expressed concerns about the teenager.
When interviewed April 12, the girl said she received a friend request over the Internet from Lengle, accepted it and began chatting with him, according to Trotter.
Trotter testified that during the conversations, Lengle asked the girl if she was a virgin and also asked her age. After learning the girl was 14, Lengle told her he was 21 and that she could not tell anyone "because he had too much to lose," Trotter said.
On Dec. 20, Lengle made arrangements to pick the girl up at her house before the bus came so they could hang out, according to Trotter.
The two went to a house and sat on a bed where he embraced and kissed her before taking her with him to the state Department of Transportation building in Schuylkill Haven so he could renew his driver's license.
Trotter said the two went to a different borough home, where Lengle sexually assaulted the girl, after which he dropped her off at the middle school about 11:30 a.m.Defendant: Charles H. Lengle
Age: 21
Residence: Pine Grove
Charges: Statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors