A Sunmount resident who allegedly stabbed a staff member in the eye with a fork has pleaded not guilty.

A Franklin County Grand Jury indicted John Harvey, 37, in December on charges of second-degree assault, a class D felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor. The charges stem from a July 25 incident at a group home on Hosley Avenue in Tupper Lake.

“The assault 2nd charge stems from that allegation that Harvey, a Sunmount resident, used a metal fork to cause physical injury to the eye of a Sunmount employee,” Franklin County District Attorney Craig Carriero wrote in an email. “The criminal possession of a weapon 4th charge stems from the allegation that the fork was used as a dangerous instrument to injure another person.”

The staff member, Alisha Dukett of Tupper Lake, was treated at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh and released. An eye specialist examined her and found she had been struck in the white of the eye, resulting in a broken blood vessel, according to Kristen Dukett, Alisha’s sister. She told the Enterprise at the time that Alisha had only been working at Sunmount for a few months when the incident occurred.

Harvey was arraigned on the indictment Feb. 3 before acting Franklin County Court Judge Jerome Richards. He pleaded not guilty and was released of his own recognizance back to the custody of Sunmount, Carriero said.

It couldn’t be determined as of press time where Harvey was being housed at Sunmount. Staff members and Tupper Lake Mayor Paul Maroun, a member of the Sunmount Board of Visitors, told the Enterprise in July that Harvey had been housed in a secure facility for higher-risk residents before he was moved to the Hosley Avenue group home.

A pre-trial motion and discovery conference in Harvey’s case has been scheduled for Feb. 16. The DA said he would bring the case to trial if a disposition can’t be reached.