Slater avoids grope charges if he behaves

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Slater avoids grope charges if he behaves

Monday, September 19, 2005; Posted: 9:29 p.m. EDT (01:29 GMT)

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Actor Christian Slater was told by a prosecutor Monday to stay out of trouble for six months under a deal to drop charges of groping a woman.

At a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court, Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Puzio informed the actor as long as he did not get re-arrested, prosecutors would drop all charges against him, including forcibly touching the woman, sexual abuse in the third degree and disorderly conduct.

If convicted of the charges, he could face up to one year in jail.

Slater did not say anything as he left court but his attorney, Eric Franz, told reporters: "The case is dismissed and we are very pleased with the outcome. It was everybody's decision that it was the appropriate resolution."

At a July hearing, Slater turned down an offer by prosecutors of three days of community service if he would plead guilty to the charges. In rejecting that deal, Franz said the case "warrants dismissal."

Slater, 36, was arrested May 31 after a woman accused him of groping her while she was buying a soda in Manhattan in the early hours of the morning. Slater was appearing on Broadway at the time in "The Glass Menagerie."

Slater, the star of movies "Heathers" and "True Romance," is preparing for his new role in the London stage production of "Sweet Bird of Youth."

The actor has had several brushes with the law, among them a 1997 arrest for assaulting his girlfriend during a fight and assaulting a police officer. In 1994, the New York native was arrested for bringing a gun on an airplane.

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CNN.com-September 19, 2005