A Slippery Rock man was sentenced Wednesday, March 8, in Butler County Common Pleas Court for assaulting his former girlfriend in her Slippery Rock Township home last year.

David E. Deal, 43, was sentenced to serve 11 months and 15 days to 23 months in jail, but immediately was paroled to serve 12 months of probation for one of the two simple assault charges he pleaded guilty to. He received no further penalty for the second charge.

State police filed the charges against Deal following the June 3 incident.

In a separate case, Deal was sentenced to serve 40 hours to six months in the Butler County Prison, pay a $500 fine and complete 40 hours of community service, a victim impact panel and litter pickup after he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence filed by state police on June 4, the day after the assault.

The victim in the assault, Nicole Rust, submitted a victim impact statement that was read aloud by a victim advocate. Rust attended the sentencing hearing wearing a neck brace.

According to the statement, Rust said Deal strangled her in the presence of her 3-year-old daughter, resulting in injuries to her and nightmares for her and her daughter, who referred to Deal as her father. She said she and Deal had been together since her daughter was 3 months old, and she once was in love with him.

She said her neck was injured and she has numbness in her arm, which prevent her from playing with her daughter and picking up her up, according to the statement.

She said the fear she has lived with since the attack makes her afraid to go on walks, and she has difficulty sleeping, according to the statement.

A felony charge of strangulation police filed against Deal was changed to simple assault.

Deal appeared for the hearing via video from the Butler County Prison, where he is being held in lieu of $35,000 bail.

His attorney, Public Defender Charles Nedz, said the charges against Deal violated terms of probation he was serving from Mercer County, and he could face a “substantial” prison sentence for the violation.

According to court documents, Deal was sentenced on Jan. 13, 2021, in Mercer County Common Pleas Court to serve two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats filed by Grove City police following a Sept. 1, 2020, incident.