A Luzerne County man was recently placed on probation for two years on a corruption of minors charge.

Joseph James Haggerty III

, 26, of Conyngham, pleaded guilty to the charge on the day he was going to go on trial on that and other charges.

Haggerty entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office back in September. In entering the plea agreement, Haggerty avoided facing trial on a felony 2 count of statutory sexual assault and a felony 3 count of corruption of minors.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Haggerty admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The girl’s mother originally reported the sexual encounter to police after seeing text messages from Haggerty on her daughter’s phone. The girl’s mother said that Haggerty admitted to having sex with her daughter and asked the mom not to go to police.

The girl’s mother went to state police on June 6, 2021, and later that day police interviewed Haggerty who admitted he and the girl had sex.

Police interviewed the girl on July 12, 2021, and she verified the incident.

Judge Joseph J. Matika also ordered Haggerty to submit to a sexual offenders evaluation, have no contact with the victim, render 100 hours of community service, pay court costs of over $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation.