AUGUSTA — A Clinton man was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after he pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old.

Wayne T. Clark, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of gross sexual assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact, and in exchange four other similar charges naming the same victim were dismissed.

Clark’s attorney, Ronald Bourget, said the allegations spanned a three-month period June-August 2014 in Clinton.

“Mr. Clark made a full and remorseful confession early on in the proceedings,” Bourget said. “As we grew near to trial, Mr. Clark wanted to spare the victim from having to testify. As a result we were able to work a plea negotiation.”

The victim was a relative, and District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said the victim’s family was in support of the negotiated sentence.

“It meant the 6-year-old would not have to testify,” Maloney said.

Bourget said changes in the state law allow a judge to start with a basic 20-year sentence and include the potential for a lifetime of supervised release if the sex offenses involve children under 12.

He said Clark has been in jail since he was charged with the crimes late last year. Clark entered his plea Friday in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Maloney said, “Supervised release is different from probation, and the person can be more carefully monitored and it can be for a person’s life.”

Clark also was ordered to register as a lifetime offender under on the state’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

In a separate case also heard Friday in the Capital Judicial Center, Frank Waterman, 47, of Freeport, pleaded guilty to domestic violence against a child that occurred Oct. 14, 2014, in Waterville.

He was sentenced to an initial 90 days in jail, with the remainder of the 364-day sentence suspended. He was also placed on probation for one year and ordered to do 100 hours of community service and engage in anger management counseling.

Maloney said this was not a typical domestic violence case because the victim was a child.

“(Waterman) just became very angry when this child who was 6 wet the bed,” she said. “He truly lost it and beat her.”

Maloney said Waterman is not the girl’s father, and that she is now living with her biological father.

“This is a case where someone took responsibility for going too far,” she said.

Waterman’s attorney, Darrick Banda, said, “It’s a spanking case, and from the state’s perspective, he went too far with the spanking. They alleged he used a belt and took it too far, beyond the parental discipline exception. We tried to weigh the pros and cons about the defense, and this is probably a good result for him.”

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams