SUNBURY - A 21-year-old Mount Carmel man charged with making an obscene gesture in front of two young girls in Coal Township in September 2011 is set to enter a guilty plea for the second time.
Rudy M. Huhn is scheduled for a guilty plea at 9:15 a.m. Feb. 25 before a Northumberland County judge, according to First District Attorney Ann Targonski, who is prosecuting the case. A pre-trial conference in the case was set for Friday afternoon, but Huhn's attorney, Michael Romance, was unable to attend due to illness. Targonski said Huhn has accepted a plea agreement rather than take the case to trial.
In November 2011, Huhn pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanors of obscene and other sexual materials and unlawful contact with a minor and was sentenced by Northumberland County Judge Charles Saylor on April 9 to two years supervised probation, with the first three months being served on house arrest. He also was ordered to pay a $25 fine plus costs.
But on April 30, Saylor granted Huhn's motion to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate the sentence after it was revealed that the charges Huhn pleaded guilty to were actually felonies of the third degree instead of misdemeanors. The judge also vacated the requirement for Huhn to register under Megan's Law.
The discrepancy in the grading of the charges was reportedly overlooked by the attorneys and police. Huhn filed his motion to withdraw his plea because the defendant thought he was pleading guilty to misdemeanors. Under Pennsylvania law, Saylor was forced to vacate the sentence and grant Huhn an opportunity to seek a trial or negotiate another plea agreement with the commonwealth.
Huhn was charged by Coal Township Detective Jeff Brennan with rubbing his genitals, with his pants still on, against a fence post in front of two girls, ages 10 and 11, on Sept. 29, 2011, at a playground near the Ferndale ballfield.
During an interview with police, Huhn admitted he intentionally stopped at the playground to watch the children. He also told police that he wanted the girls to see him performing the lewd act.