EVANS CITY — A former Catholic priest accused of indecent assault had the charge dropped Wednesday by District Judge Wayne Seibel.

Edward Huff, 62, of New Castle instead pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.

The case stems from an incident in which a 20-year-old man accused Huff of grabbing his crotch in September while the two rode in a car on Interstate 79.

Huff and his accuser, who also is from New Castle, attended a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game that day and were headed home when the alleged assault occurred. The accuser said he repeatedly pushed Huff's hand away from his crotch and did the same when Huff tried to put his hand up the accuser's shorts, according to police documents.

The accuser told police Huff tried touching his crotch until he dropped the accuser off at his house.

In a conversation several days after the alleged incident, the accuser's mother told police Huff admitted the alleged crime and asked her not to press charges.

David Acker, Huff's attorney, said the charges were dropped because "there was no indecent assault" that occurred. Russ Karl, an assistant district attorney, echoed that, and said Huff's actions "didn't serve the level of a misdemeanor offense."

Huff, who resigned from the priesthood in 1993, previously pleaded guilty in six cases to charges of indecent assault and corruption of minors after several boys accused him of molesting them at his former parishes in Lawrence and Allegheny counties.

He later spent about a year in a psychiatric facility for priests before resigning from the priesthood. He also was sentenced in 1995 to up to five years in jail in connection with the guilty pleas.

Huff will pay a $300 fine and court costs.