A New Castle police officer who was accused in 2008 of sexually assaulting two teenage girls pleaded guilty Monday to two counts each of indecent assault and corruption of minors.

Prosecutors dropped additional charges against Richard Corbin, 37, because the victims, who are cousins, did not want to testify in court.

"We felt it was in the best interest of everyone involved that we secure a guilty plea," said Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's office.

Mr. Corbin's sentencing is scheduled for April 19 in Lawrence County Court. His lawyer, Richard Joyce, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mr. Frederiksen said that Mr. Corbin is currently free on bond. The charges he pleaded guilty to are both misdemeanors. The charges that were dropped included two felony counts each of statutory sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault.

Mr. Corbin had been with the New Castle police since 1998. From April 2007 to February 2008 he worked as a resource officer at New Castle Junior-Senior High School.

The two victims were 13 and 15 at the time of the alleged assault. They told police in 2008 that Mr. Corbin had offered them a ride, then took them to his home, when they found a bottle of apple schnapps in his car. After they drank as many as eight shots of alcohol in about an hour, Mr. Corbin had sex with them, they said.

Mr. Corbin's nephew, Robert Alex Bogdan, 20, and Mr. Bogdan's live-in girlfriend, Billie Esposito, 35, were arrested last week after they allegedly pressured one of the victims to recant her story. They were charged with intimidation of witnesses and obstruction of the administration of law, among other charges.

A preliminary hearing for Mr. Bogdan and Ms. Esposito, both of New Castle, is set for Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

In a criminal complaint, police said that Mr. Bogdan and Ms. Esposito drove Mr. Corbin's Jeep Cherokee to the home of one of the victims.

There, they allegedly offered her $4000 to write a statement saying that the sexual assault never took place. When she declined the money, they urged her to contact an attorney to say that the assault never happened. They also told her they wanted her to beat up her cousin, the other victim, because they said she was lying about the assault, authorities said.

Mr. Frederiksen said a protective order was issued Monday prohibiting Mr. Corbin, Mr. Bogdan and Ms. Esposito from contacting the victims or their families.

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