Johnny Dewayne Dowling, 38, of Pahrump, entered a plea of guilty to indecent or obscene exposure with a prior conviction of the same last Monday.

The category D felony charge is a lesser charge than the original charge Dowling was facing of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 14, which Dowling pleaded not guilty to in December of last year.

Furthermore, there is in actuality no prior conviction of indecent or obscene exposure, but Dowling agreed to plead guilty to that specific offense to avoid conviction of the more serious charge at trial.

The state agreed to accept the 10-page plea agreement due to circumstances uncovered during the course of adjudicating the original charges that led to the state's misgivings over the extent of some of the allegations.

Kirk Vitto, prosecuting for the state, explained that while questioning the victim, who was six-years old when the offences were committed, about the circumstances that had occurred, "her answers were inconsistent."

In addition, the prosecutor said the state-ordered physical examination of the victim was inconsistent with her allegations.

Since Dowling's original charges could have resulted in a lifetime prison sentence, the prosecutor said he "had some severe reservations" about pursuing the original charges.

"I did not think the risk at all appropriate because I think what would have happened, if Mr. Dowling had gone to trial, I think that there's a very good chance that he would have been convicted and sent to prison for life," Vitto said. "So basically, under the attendant circumstances as I knew them, what I thought was appropriate was to allow Mr. Dowling to plea guilty to what he admitted in his interview with police."

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Dowling will undergo a psychosexual evaluation to determine his probability of recidivism.

If he is deemed unlikely to re-offend, the state will recommend probation.

The charge carries a sentence of one to four years imprisonment and a fine up to $5,000.

Vitto told the court that he would recommend the sentence be suspended and Dowling be placed on probation, but that the first year of his probation should be completed either in a Salvation Army in-house program or alternately a year in the county jail, to begin on the day he is sentenced, with no credit for time he has already served.

An additional condition of Dowling's probation, as recommended by the state, would include any applicable supervision and registration with local authorities as well as no unsupervised contact with a child under the age of 16.

However, those recommendations are based on the results of Dowling's evaluation.

Addressing the court, Dowling explained the circumstances of what occurred, and although he conceded there was "inappropriate contact" with the child, what happened "was totally an accident ... there was no way I would ever do that. And I told the police that."

Ultimately, however, Dowling's sentence will be at the discretion of the court when he appears for sentencing Aug. 13.