AUBURN — A judge sentenced a Lewiston man Monday to 18 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child under 12 for three years.

Jonathan B. Stevens

Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Roland A. Cole imposed the sentence on Jonathan B. Stevens, 61, of 74 Spring St. on a felony charge of gross sexual assault.

Cole sentenced Stevens to additional time in prison on nine other sex crimes, but his sentencing structure will enable him to serve that time during the 18 years.

He pleaded guilty to all 10 charges contained in an October 2020 Androscoggin County grand jury indictment.

When he’s freed from prison, Stevens will be on supervised release for life.

If he were to violate the terms of his release, he could be sent back to prison for life.

The assaults happened between 2011 and 2014 with the same child, according to court papers.

During his release from prison, Stevens must register as a sex offender for life, have no contact with the victim, have no unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18, stay away from any place where children congregate, have no contact with pornographic materials, have no access to the internet without permission from his probation officer and not have any children’s toys, games, movies, clothing or pictures.

Assistant District Attorney Katherine Bozeman had argued for a 28-year sentence.

Stevens’ attorney, Justin Leary urged the judge to impose a sentence of 17 years, with all of that time suspended except for five years.

Leary noted that Stevens admitted to his crimes when confronted by the investigating officer, is in failing health and began sex offender counseling even before he was formally charged.

He had a minor criminal record dating back to a 1994 misdemeanor and hadn’t been charged with a crime in the seven years since his last contact with his victim.