A retired police officer continues to maintain he is innocent of allegations that he molested an 8-year-old girl.

Still 59-year-old Jack L. Nulph of Connoquenessing pleaded no contest to indecent assault and was sentenced Monday to serve only the time he already spent in prison.

“I served the community for 17 years, and I’ve never done anything wrong ... not so much as a parking ticket,” said Nulph, who reportedly worked for police departments in Indiana and Armstrong counties before taking private security jobs in his retirement.

Nulph’s attorney Patrick Casey told the judge the only reason his client entered the plea was because he has health concerns and didn’t want to risk the extra stresses of a trial. With a no-contest plea, a defendant does not acknowledge guilt. It simply implies he is choosing not to fight the allegations.

Still, it is weighed as a guilty plea for the purpose of sentencing.

In court records, investigators alleged Nulph fondled the child at a home in Saxonburg between September 2012 and May 2014.

Initially, he faced numerous felony charges that were dropped by prosecutors in exchange for his plea. Butler County Judge William Shaffer sentenced Nulph in keeping with the plea arrangement the defendant made with prosecutors: 4 to 8 months in prison followed by 16 months of probation.

Nulph, who has been in jail since March, was immediately paroled. He also must register his whereabouts with state police for the next 15 years.

The girl is not being identified due to the nature of the charges. She did not appear in court Monday, but her mother spoke.

The woman said her daughter is a completely different person than she was before the alleged assault.

Previously, the girl was fun loving. Now the mother said the girl is angry and withdrawn. She is in counseling and taking medication, struggling in school, becoming promiscuous and violent and wetting herself.

“I just wanted to give you a picture of what’s going on,” the mother said to the judge.