A Beaverton man will be serving 18 months in jail after pleading guilty last month to two counts of sexual interference.

Jeremy Shelton was sentenced in Oshawa court on Jan. 9 in relation to a slate of charges that date back to May of 2016.

At the same hearing, six charges were withdrawn by the Crown — two counts of invitation to sexual touching, two counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault relating to the same time period.

According to the Criminal Code of Canada, sexual interference is defined by touching, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years.

No information on the nature of the charges was released by the Durham Regional Police at the time they were laid or subsequently.

In addition to the jail time, the man will serve three years probation and his name has been added to the sex offender registry for life.

Court officials have advised there were two publication bans related to this case. One was under Section 517 of the Criminal Code.

As per the Ministry of the Attorney General, “Section 517 publication bans may be ordered at bail hearings, and typically cover all evidence, information, what’s said in court by all the parties, and the reasons for release or detention given by the justice. A section 517 publication ban is a temporary ban which extends until the accused is discharged after the preliminary inquiry or the trial is completed, subject to any other court orders.”

The second publication ban was under Section 486.4. As per the Ministry of the Attorney General, “Section 486.4 provides for orders restricting publication of information that could identify a complainant or witness in a sexual offence.”