An 8-year-old girl was spared having to testify against the man accused of raping her over a 3 1/2-year period on Wednesday when he stipulated his charges to court.

Jason L. Hites, 27, of Harrisville, had charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and corruption of minors stipulated to Common Pleas Court before District Judge D. Neil McEwen, Pine Township.

Stipulating charges means admitting there’s evidence for them to move to Common Pleas Court without admitting guilt. However, Assistant District Attorney Ryan Bonner and Hites’ defense attorney Douglas E. Straub both said they are stipulating charges to court so a guilty plea can be negotiated.

Defendants cannot plead guilty to charges as serious as Hites’ in district courts.

Bonner said any negotiated plea deal would probably not occur for another two or three months.

The 8-year-old and her family were able to leave shortly after the hearing began, visibly relieved.

Hites, meanwhile, hunched and appeared strained and emotional at the hearing, doubling over in his chair at its conclusion.

He is accused of first assaulting the girl when she was 4, in Dec. 2006 in Mercer, police said. He also allegedly assaulted her in the summer of 2008 in Harrisville and then in June and July in Pine Township, they said.

The abuse may have stopped sooner, but the girl’s mother did not believe the victim’s claim that Hites was raping her, police said. Hites is a convicted sex offender, but the mother said she “forgave” him.

Police were notified when the girl told a female relative and some friends, who alerted adults, police said.

A girl relative witnessed one of the assaults, and police said they seized two pairs of the girl’s underwear, but did not disclose if any evidence was recovered.

Hites pleaded guilty to a 2000 charge of indecent assault on a child under 13 that occurred in Springfield Township, and was sentenced to 3 to 18 months in Mercer County Jail. He was not deemed a sexually violent predator, but was required under Megan’s Law to report his whereabouts and other information to authorities.

In 2006, he pleaded guilty to failing to notify authorities of a change of address, and paid a fine.