A Winslow man who taught at the Waldo County Technical Center will serve no jail time on charges that he assaulted a 17-year-old student as long as he stays out of trouble for the next year.

Michael Gagnon, 46, who was accused of sexually assaulting the student, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault in Waldo County court this week, television station WABI reported.

Prosecutors originally charged Gagnon with gross sexual assault, alleging that he assaulted the 17-year-old female student while taking her on a “test drive” in a vehicle that had been repaired in the automotive technology class that Gagnon taught. He was also charged with assaults on the same student at his home in Winslow and at a motel in Bangor, police said.

The district attorney says it would have been difficult to convict Gagnon at trial since a judge ruled his statements to police couldn’t be used as evidence and the student would have had a hard time testifying.

Gagnon was charged in May and pleaded not guilty. He was placed on leave from his job at Waldo Tech and as the softball coach at Mount View High School in Thorndike.

He was given a deferred sentence, meaning if he stays out of legal trouble for a year, he can withdraw the plea and instead plead guilty to the less serious charge of assault.