A Peachtree

City man avoided prison by pleading guilty to a lesser charge in court

Wednesday when he was originally accused of molesting his former fiancee's

daughter.

Robert Lee

Silva, 41, of 312 Larkspur Turn, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge

Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. to 10 years probation for enticing a child for

indecent purposes. Caldwell also ruled that Silva must register as a sex

offender, meaning he must notify authorities of his whereabouts if he

moves elsewhere.

Silva's attorney,

Jim Barfield, said his client pled guilty to keep from forcing the victim,

who is now 9 years old, to testify.

Caldwell said

he was only accepting the plea because Superior Court Judge Paschal A.

English had previously accepted it and the accusations against Silva only

involved touching the child and did not escalate from that point.

Silva originally

pled guilty to the charges Monday, but he decided at the last minute to

withdraw his plea after his attorney had left the courtroom, officials

said.

Wednesday's

guilty plea from Silva came just as the prosecution planned to present

its first witness in the case. A jury was seated in the case Tuesday afternoon

and opening statements had already concluded before Silva decided to plead

guilty.