Delmont man gets prison time for molesting girl

A Delmont man will serve up to 10 years in prison for sex crimes against a girl.

Alberto Marton, 46, pleaded guilty Friday to 10 charges related to the sexual assaults of a now 13-year-old girl who claimed she was repeatedly molested for nearly two years.

Police said Marton repeatedly fondled and groped the victim starting when she was 9. According to court records, he also admitted that he took sexually explicit photographs of the girl.

Marton pleaded guilty to five felony counts of aggravated indecent assault and other related offenses.

He told Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway he agreed to the plea bargain because he was guilty.

“I am sorry for what I had done,” Marton said.

Hathaway said Marton could have been sentenced to decades in prison if he was convicted in a jury trial.

The deal approved Friday called for Marton to serve 5-to-10 years in prison and additional five years on probation. He will also be subjected to lifetime registration as a convicted sex offender once he is released from prison.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr said the deal was made in an effort to spare the child victim from having to testify at trial.

Marton, since his arrest, had been free on bond. On Friday, he was taken into custody to begin serving his prison sentence.

Police, in court documents, said Marton told investigators “he had a mental block, and the assaults “must have occurred more than once.”

The victim’s mother and step-mother both told the judge the sexual assaults will have lasting effects.

“We’re doing our best to help her through this, but she will never fully recover,” said the girl’s stepmother.