A 52-year-old homeless man who attacked a young girl in an abandoned house on North Whidbey last summer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted assault in the second-degree with sexual motivation.

Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock sentenced Geoffrey Herrmann to 6.75 months in jail, the top of the standard sentencing range.

Herrmann was facing the possibility of serious prison time with the original charges of attempted rape of a child and second-degree child molestation, but the plea bargain still means he’ll have to register as a sex offender.

Herrmann told the court that he was “terribly sorry” for what he did.

“I would like to apologize to the families for putting them through this ordeal,” he said. “I am terrible ashamed for what happened.”

Island County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme said he decided to work out a plea bargain, instead of going to trial, because the 12-year-old victim had moved to Alaska to live with relatives. Her father, a North Whidbey man, didn’t want her to go through a trial. He felt putting the girl on the stand “would do more harm than good,” Ohme said.

Also, both Ohme and Herrmann’s attorney, Lance Hendrix of Coupeville, said it was a difficult case with no witnesses.

“There were two different sides of what happened,” Hendrix said.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Herrmann was accused of molesting and attempting to rape a friend’s 12-year-old daughter July 7, 2005. The man had allowed Herrmann to stay in an abandoned house, or shed, on Monroe Landing Road, next to the family’s residence.

Herrmann disappeared after the assault. He was last seen on an Island Transit bus. A judge issued a $100,000 bench warrant for his arrest. Police finally caught up with him about three months ago in Stockton, Calif.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Hancock said there was no doubt the assault was a sex crime. He noted that the homeless man has a serious drinking problem; he urged Herrmann to seek treatment.

“Your life has not been lived to your potential,” Hancock said.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at 675-6611.