City man gets 1-2 years after guilty plea in assault of teen
HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man has been sentenced to one to two years in the Blair County Prison, followed by eight years' probation for assaulting a 13-year-old girl at his residence in November 2022.
Dalton Lynn Hardy, 32, who has been incarcerated since his Jan. 30 arrest by Altoona police, will be credited for time served based on a sentence that Senior Judge Daniel J. Milliron imposed Thursday.
He entered guilty pleas to a felony count of corruption of minors and to misdemeanor counts of indecent assault of a person less than 16 and indecent exposure.
Upon release from prison, Hardy's sentence requires him to seek counseling for sex offenders and to comply with annual registration requirements for Tier 1 sex offenders under Megan's Law.
Based on the charges filed against Hardy, Altoona police initiated an investigation after learning of a call to ChildLine, the state's hotline, reporting the assault at Hardy's residence on the 1500 block of Second Street.
As part of the investigation, the teenager was interviewed at the Altoona Center for Child Justice, where police said she accused Hardy of assaulting her while she was sleeping at his residence. The victim told the interviewer that Hardy was looking at pornography earlier in the evening, then assaulted her when he thought she was sleeping.
She said that when she moved as though she was awakening, Hardy moved away from her and pretended that nothing happened.
Police said a family friend picked up the victim at Hardy's residence the following morning.
District Attorney Pete Weeks and defense attorney Ed Nicholson of Greensburg presented the negotiated plea to Milliron, who asked about the victim's input.
Weeks said his office's personnel had contact with the victim on Nov. 7 and she was supportive of the negotiated plea. Weeks also said the victim asked that Hardy have no contact with her and that she did not want to attend his sentencing hearing.
Milliron included the no-contact provision in the sentencing order.
