DARLINGTON — A Darlington man faces felony charges in Lafayette County Circuit Court after he confessed to having sex with a Monroe teenager, according to court records.

Steven Hartwell Cotter, 23, was charged Feb. 14 with Class C felony counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child and using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, a Class D felony count of child enticement, two Class I counts of exposing genitals to a child and a misdemeanor count of sex with a child age 16 or older.

According to the criminal complaint, the 16-year-old girl told police she had sexual intercourse with Cotter seven times, at his house on East Ann Street and in a hotel room in Monroe, and that they drank vodka together.

She said they met on Facebook and had been chatting through another app. She provided police with messages in which they discussed having sex.

She said she recently blocked him on social media because he was messaging her to the point of harassment. She said she was afraid of him because he said he would come to her house with guns and she knew he owned two guns.

Cotter initially denied sexual contact with the girl or giving her alcohol, but later confessed, according to court records. 

He told police he thought she was 19 and only later found out she was younger, but kept seeing her.

Cotter signed a $2,000 signature bond March 4 with conditions that he have no contact with the girl or anyone under the age of 18 excluding immediate family, exchange no photos on social media or via cellphone, possess no firearms and not leave the state except for work in Dubuque, Iowa, or a pre-authorized trip.

His preliminary hearing is March 26.