A Bristol man pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault July 2 related to an incident in Damariscotta in February and, if he meets the terms of a deferred disposition agreement, will only pay a fine for his crime.
Lawrence B. Sidelinger, 53, was charged earlier this year with unlawful sexual contact and domestic violence assault, both class D crimes, according to court documents and the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office.
Sidelinger is a lifetime registrant with the Maine Sex Offender Registry. Sidelinger has convictions for gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact, according to the registry.
Sidelinger was arrested by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in February after a third party reported an incident between Sidelinger and the victim at the Tri-bay Laundramat in Damariscotta to police, according to The Lincoln County News archives.
A woman told police Sidelinger followed her into the laundromat at about 1 p.m. on Feb. 4 “and after a brief conversation … grabbed her and stuffed his hands down her pants” and touched her genitals, Damariscotta Police Department Sgt. Jason Warlick said at the time.
The woman told police “she pushed him away and told him ‘no,’ but he kept doing it,” Warlick said. After she pushed him away a third time, he swore and left the laundromat.
At the time of Sidelinger’s arrest, Warlick said Sidelinger and the victim “were acquaintances at best,” but Sidelinger was later charged and pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault against a family or household member.
In exchange for Sidelinger’s guilty plea to the domestic violence assault charge, the unlawful sexual touching charge was dismissed, according to court paperwork.
Sidelinger will be subject to a deferred disposition agreement which places him under certain restrictions and conditions for the next 18 months.
Along with a requirement that he refrain from all criminal conduct, Sidelinger is required to donate $100 to the Victim Compensation Fund and have no contact with the victim, among other conditions.
If he follows the terms of the deferred disposition agreement, Sidelinger will be required to pay a $500 fine; otherwise he will face an “open plea” on the domestic violence assault charge, meaning he can face up to 364 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Hollstrom, the prosecutor in the case, said the agreement in the case was made for several reasons: there were no other witnesses to the incident, there was video of the incident but it was of poor quality and Sidelinger and the victim were both as far away from the camera as they could be, and there were concerns about the victim’s ability to make it through a trial.
“We had concerns about her ability to make it through a trial, and that is partly based on her testimony in a protection from abuse hearing that was about this incident that happened before this decision was made,” Hollstrom said.
Sidelinger’s attorney, William Avantaggio, agreed with Hollstrom’s reasons for coming to an agreement on the case but said there was also “a real question as to witness credibility.”
“This seems like a reasonable way to conclude it,” Avantaggio said.
