Mailman gets probation in sexual battery

A mailman will spend a year on probation after he admitted to sexually battering a woman last year in an Indianapolis business.

Charles Helton, 37, of Indianapolis, was sentenced Tuesday to one year for sexual battery, a class D felony, but Marion Superior Judge Mark D. Stoner suspended the term.

Wearing his blue U.S. Postal Service uniform, court documents said Helton forced his way into a woman's office in the 1600 block of West Oliver Street on the Near Westside last February, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Helton asked the woman to perform sexual acts on him, and then forced her to touch him, court documents said.

Prosecutors originally charged Helton with four felony counts of sexual battery, criminal confinement, official misconduct and burglary, as well as a misdemeanor count of battery.

Per the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed all but the sexual battery charge.

A spokeswoman with the U.S. Postal Service in Indianapolis would not say whether Helton remains employed with the federal government, saying the office does not comment on personnel issues.

The judge also ordered that Helton do 40 hours of community service and undergo a psychological evaluation and treatment.

Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.