AUGUSTA — A 24-year-old New Hampshire man facing a charge of gross sexual assault against a 13-year-old Monmouth girl pleaded guilty Tuesday instead to a charge of assault.

Ismail E. Maalin, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was sentenced to 70 days in jail and given credit for the 70 days he already had been held on the offense, which occurred June 16 in Augusta.

The charge of gross sexual assault was dismissed by the state. The hearing was held at the Capital Judicial Center.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in court, Monmouth police Officer Dana Wessling said the girl’s mother reported that the13-year-old had left home in the middle of the night, and Wessling recalled a traffic stop of a vehicle at 2:15 a.m. Monday and a “young-looking” white girl was in the vehicle along with two black men.

The mother later called to say her daughter had returned home and eventually indicated she had been assaulted sexually by one of the men despite her protests against it, while they were in the vehicle’s back seat at an Augusta gas station.

The girl’s mother then impersonated her daughter on Facebook and invited the men back, and police interviewed them. Maalin was arrested and charged.

However, it appeared that the evidence did not support a charge of gross sexual assault.

“The DNA found in the victim’s underwear did not match the defendant’s DNA,” District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said in an email. “The state can prove that there was unwanted physical contact between the defendant and the victim but is unable to prove that the contact was sexual.”

Maalin’s defense attorney, William Maselli, who also responded via email, said, “There were issues concerning proof problems, witness credibility, admissibility of statements, as well as Mr. Maalin’s lack of any criminal history.”

Maalin at one point had been held in jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.

On Sept. 4, he was freed after posting $4,000 bail with conditions that he live in a brother’s home in New Hampshire, not use the Internet and not have contact with the victim. The judge required Maalin’s brother to provide an address and a phone number where Maalin would be living.

At a separate hearing also at the Capital Judicial Center on Tuesday, Kyle D. Caret, 22, of Winthrop pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual touching and one count of unlawful sexual contact with a victim under 14. He was ordered to serve nine months in jail on one count of unlawful sexual touching that occurred Jan. 1 to March 12, 2012, in Winthrop.

Caret was placed on deferred disposition on the other two charges with a return hearing date of May 9, 2017. If he complies with a number of conditions, including a ban on drugs and alcohol, and undergoes a psychological evaluation, the sentence is to be a fully suspended 364-day jail sentence and one year of probation. If he is unsuccessful, the agreement says, the state can argue for any term up to the maximum penalty of five years.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams