CHICORA — Kenneth P. Fair is headed to Butler County Court on charges he unintentionally shot and injured his young daughter while they were hunting last fall.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton at a preliminary hearing Tuesday ordered Fair, 47, of Donegal Township to stand trial on criminal and summary charges.

But before making his ruling, Stoughton called the case “a simple accident” caused by a father’s “careless act.”

The Oct. 24 incident in woods off McGrady Hollow Road in Clearfield Township left Fair’s then 9-year-old daughter hospitalized with a gunshot to the thigh.

The girl, who has since recovered, was with her father at a deer hunting blind when she was shot, Christopher Deal, a wildlife conservation officer with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, testified at the hearing.

Investigators believe the two were packing up their gear for the evening when Fair reached from the outside of the blind to remove his loaded .243-caliber rifle that was mounted on a rudimentary, homemade tripod.

The rifle discharged as Fair’s daughter, who had a youth mentor license, happened to step in front of it. The bullet struck her in the left thigh and passed through the leg, Deal said.

A medical helicopter landed at the scene and flew the girl to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she underwent several surgeries.

“He was crying and looking at the helicopter,” Deal said in recounting how he initially found the defendant.

The officer said that he inspected the blind following the shooting and found blood and other evidence, including Fair’s rifle on the ground.

”With the safety off,” he told prosecutor Russ Karl, a county assistant district attorney. He also recovered a spent bullet casing

Additionally, Deal found a strap, which he later learned was used to secure the rifle to the tripod device. The device, Fair told Deal during a Nov. 3 interview at the blind, was designed to help make it easier for his daughter to shoot the rifle.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Michael Zunder, the officer acknowledged that Fair was “extraordinarily upset” by the shooting.

The defendant also attempted first-aid on his daughter and fully cooperated with authorities during the investigation, Deal said.

The game commission on Jan. 15 charged Fair with shooting at or causing injury to another person while hunting, a second-degree misdemeanor. He also was cited for a hunting license violation.

The misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $2,500 fine, was filed because of the defendant’s actions that included taking the safety off the rifle and using the makeshift tripod.

Intent is not a required element of the crime, Karl told Stoughton. Prosecutors only have to show that the act was careless and negligent, Karl said.

Stoughton said that based on the evidence and the letter of the law, he had to send the charges to court.

“Obviously, we’re looking here at a simple accident,” he said. “But the father did not check to make sure the safety was engaged, which is a careless act.”

Fair remains free on his own recognizance.