A Massachusetts man is being held in jail after he allegedly assaulted a 23-year-old man using brass knuckles and a baseball bat at his Athens residence Friday night.

Michael L. Cote, 30, of Fall River, Massachusetts, told a Somerset County sheriff’s deputy that he attacked the alleged victim at his Hartland Road residence because he believed the man had had sex with his 17-year-old daughter, court records show.

Michael L. Cote, 30, of Fall River, Mass., is shown in this Somerset County Jail booking photo. Photo courtesy of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office

Facing charges of Class A elevated aggravated assault and Class B burglary, Cote made his initial court appearance Monday in Skowhegan, according to court records. He was being held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison with cash bail set at $10,000 as of Tuesday morning, online jail records show.

According to the probable cause affidavit for Cote’s arrest filed in court, Deputy Stephen Armiger of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office responded to the reported assault around 10:30 p.m. on Friday.

The caller and her wife reported that someone had come on their property and assaulted their son, who lives on the property in a camper, Armiger wrote in the affidavit.

The Morning Sentinel does not identify alleged victims of violent crimes without their consent.

The alleged victim was unable to answer questions and was visibly injured, Armiger wrote. He was transported by ambulance to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and later transported via LifeFlight of Maine helicopter to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, according to the affidavit.

Cote was also at the hospital in Skowhegan, along with a woman who was being treated. The woman has been identified as the mother of Cote’s 17-year-old daughter, Armiger wrote.

Cote agreed to talk to police and said he and the woman went to confront the alleged victim because Cote believed the man had had sex with his daughter, Armiger wrote. Cote knocked on the camper door, pulled out the alleged victim and “punched him in the head with brass knuckles,” the affidavit says.

The two then went inside the camper to see if anyone else was inside, before Cote went back to his vehicle, the affidavit says.

Cote said he exited the camper, and then heard the woman yell and saw the alleged victim holding a baseball bat and the woman’s head injured, Armiger wrote.

“(Cote) then struck (the alleged victim) again and took the bat from him,” the affidavit says. “He stated at that point he swung the bat and struck him in the head, rendering him unconscious. He then dropped the bat and took (the woman) to the hospital.”

The woman was treated for head injuries and discharged from the hospital, the affidavit says.

Though the alleged victim’s injuries were initially considered potentially life-threatening, medical staff at Eastern Maine Medical Center told a detective they expect him to survive, Armiger wrote.

Detectives with the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit also spoke with Cote but determined the Sheriff’s Office will handle the case unless the alleged victim dies, the affidavit says.

A state police spokesperson confirmed in an email that the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office is the primary investigating agency.