NILES — A Portage, Michigan teenager will receive two years felony probation and pay $1,130 in fines for distributing sexually explicit material to a Niles area child.

Berrien County Trial Court Judge Charles LaSata sentenced the defendant Monday at the Niles Courthouse, 1205 Front St. However, if the defendant completes probation, he will have his record expunged due to the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which gives offenders ages 17 to 23 the chance to have certain cases dismissed.

The defendant will not be registered as a sex offender. He will have a curfew, cannot have a social media presence and will be unable to consume alcohol or recreational drugs as part of his probation.

A sex offender assessment and sex offender management will also be required on top of a 30-hour-a-week job.

The defendant was arrested for sending sexually explicit pictures through Snapchat to a 14-year-old girl he had met at a church event. The two then began exchanging more messages on the social media app. He was arrested July 8.

“I’m sorry. I made mistakes,” he said in regards to his actions.

LaSata said the sentencing was good not only for the young man, but the rest of the community. He considered the sentence as a way for the defendant to prove himself at a time when he was in jeopardy of jailtime or a prison sentence.

“I would just go to work, go home, go to bed and get up and do it all over again,” the judge told the defendent.

LaSata said sexting, which the defendent did to the child, was a frequent subject discussed during his school talks due to its prevalence.

Also Monday, LaSata sentenced Dejoun Lamont Hicks, 22, of South Bend.

He will serve 150 days in Berrien County Jail, with 44 days already served, and pay $2,180 in fines and restitution. A two-year probation will follow.

Hicks illegally possessed and used Flagstar and Sears credit cards owned by someone else. He racked up $982 in fraudulent charges with them.

From May to September, Hicks served jailtime in St. Joseph and LaPorte counties in Indiana before being arrested for using the cards on Oct. 22.

Shoshanna Joy Vargas, 21, of Mishawaka, was also scheduled Monday to be sentenced for carrying a concealed weapon, but she failed to appear. A warrant is now out for her arrest.

She previously failed to appear before the court on Oct. 2.

Arrest records indicate that Vargas was arrested Nov. 28 in Pulaski County, Indiana, for the illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage.