A Center Township man will be on probation for two years for recklessly endangering his two daughters, ages 4 and 6 at the time.

Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer sentenced Tyler A. Irvine, 37, Thursday to serve the first five months of his probation on house arrest with electronic monitoring for the two misdemeanor charges.

State police arrested Irvine July 2 after the children's mother reported bruising on the 4-year-old's arms, neck and face after the children were with Irvine.

“(The mother) stated she asked her children what happened,” police said, “and the 6-year-old informed her that daddy hit her sister and choked her.”

The children's mother took the younger girl to Butler Memorial Hospital to be examined. The exam found the girl had bruising to the neck, face, arms, buttocks and lower back.

“Discharge papers from (the hospital) stated suspected child abuse,” according to charging documents.

Police said the mother recounted that when she returned home, she also noticed bruising on her older daughter.

“(The children) related the punishment was administered by their father because they broke stuff and went outside while he was sleeping,” documents said.

Irvine's lawyer, Leland Clark, said, “Tyler acknowledged that he crossed the line when disciplining his children. He took responsibility for his actions and is seeking forgiveness from his children and the community.”

Irvine initially faced felony charges, but they were dropped as part of a plea deal Irvine reached with prosecutors March 2.

As part of Irvine's sentence, contact with the victims is to be controlled by an existing custody order.