Defense Department employee from Port Orchard pleads guilty to sexually abusing co-worker

SEATTLE (AP) — Federal officials say a Department of Defense civilian employee from Port Orchard has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a co-worker while on a temporary assignment to a U.S. Naval base in Japan.

The U.S. Justice Department says 36-year-old Michael Cerera pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of abusive sexual contact before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura of the Western District of Washington.

Officials say Cerera admitted that in January 2016, while a civilian employee of the Department of Defense in Yokosuka, Japan, he engaged in sexual contact with a female co-worker when she was asleep.

Cerera told authorities he was present in the victim's hotel room and climbed into her bed while she was sleeping.

His will be sentenced on Aug. 9.