Former House Rep. Zach Fansler will plead guilty, though not to assault, almost six months after he was accused of slapping a woman in his hotel room.
Fansler has agreed to plead guilty to one count second-degree harassment, a misdemeanor charge, State Ethics Attorney Maria Bahr said in a conversation Friday with KYUK.
“Under that particular provision he’ll be pleading to the charge of subjecting another person to offensive physical contact,” Bahr said.
Bahr added that this particular charge applies to “offenses against public order,” whereas an assault charge applies to an offense against a person.
A rising star in Alaska’s Democratic party, Zach Fansler resigned his seat in the state house after a woman accused him of drunkenly hitting her and rupturing her eardrum.
Alaska’s Office of Special Prosecutions has been reviewing the incident for several months.
Bahr says that Fansler doesn’t have a court date yet, but that his change of plea will take place in Juneau.
