CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Bellefonte man is facing felony charges after he was accused of inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl.

Dennis Ring, 52, was charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child after he allegedly told authorities he was drunk at the time the incidents occurred. State police in Rockview opened an investigation into Ring in March after they received a report of suspected child abuse.

The report alleged that Ring had accidentally grabbed and touched the girl under her clothing during two separate incidents in December 2022 and March 2023.

When authorities spoke to the girl at the Centre County Children’s Advocacy Center, she said the first incident occurred around Christmas 2022. The girl claimed Ring put his hands under her shirt and pants and grabbed her. According to a criminal complaint, the girl told Ring to stop and pushed him off her.

The second incident occurred in March when the girl said Ring walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Ring once again allegedly put his hands under the girl’s clothing and grabbed her.

According to court documents, a caseworker at the child advocacy center spoke to Ring in April. Ring allegedly admitted to the caseworker that some of the allegations the girl made were true, according to the complaint. He claimed he did not know why he did it and said he was intoxicated at the time.

When troopers questioned Ring in May, he again said he did touch the girl but apologized to her afterward, according to state police. However, Ring denied having put his hand down the girl’s pants and allegedly said, “It never got to that.”

According to the complaint, Ring then said some of the incidents could have happened and if they did, he was drunk. He then allegedly told troopers, “I guarantee you I did it if I was drunk.”

Ring was arraigned Tuesday morning and released on $100,000 unsecured bail. In addition to the aggravated indecent assault charge, he’s facing three counts of felony indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age.