AUGUSTA — A Clinton man found guilty of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy was sentenced to 28 years in prison Tuesday. He also faces charges in the sexual assault of another boy.

Christopher Connors, 39, was found guilty by a jury in September of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact for a June 2023 incident involving a boy who lived in the same neighborhood and who Connors sexually assaulted when the boy spent the night at his home.

The boy’s family spoke in court to praise him for having the courage to step forward and report what happened, even after friends of Connors harassed the boy’s family and accused him of lying, they said.

“He was honest, brave, his main focus with the trial was making sure Chris was kept away from other children,” the boy’s mother said in a courtroom at the Capital Judicial Center. “He is a hero, he endured all the hate and distress and anger.”

Daniel Dube, Connors’ attorney, said the 28-year sentence is higher than the average of others charged in similar cases. When compared to other cases, the severity of the crime is lower than average, compared to the spectrum of other ways such a crime is committed.

Prosecutor Amanda Seekins, an assistant district attorney in Kennebec and Somerset counties, said Connors was previously investigated by police at least three times on similar allegations, involving boys between 13 and 16. No charges were filed.

“He has a documented history of taking advantage of minor children under the age of 18 for sexual satisfaction,” Seekins said, urging Superior Court Judge Daniel Mitchell to use the discretion judges are allowed to consider accusations while sentencing a criminal. She sought a 30-year sentence.

Dube, who sought a 12-year sentence, argued there is a reason no charges were filed in those prior cases, and noted there were no affidavits to back up the allegations, nor any opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.

“The weight given to uncharged conduct was concerning,” Dube said. “We’re innocent until proven guilty. Police and prosecutors at the time of investigation had so little confidence a case could be won that charges were not even brought. And yet we use these noncases to add years to a sentence.”

Connors is also facing additional child sex assault charges, involving a different boy, and potentially could have another trial.

Court records show Connors was arraigned in August on charges of gross sexual assault, four counts of unlawful sexual contact, and one count of visual sexual aggression against a child under 12 years old. That case remains pending in court, and those allegations were not brought up at Tuesday’s sentencing.

A second boy, who was 10 years old at the time, was also at Connors’ home the night he assaulted the 11-year-old boy, testimony during Connors’ three-day trial in September indicated. No allegations involving the younger boy were made at trial.

However, one of the three allegations regarding the 10-year-old is tied to the same night Connors assaulted the older boy in the case he was sentenced for Tuesday, while the other two are alleged to have happened another time.

Connors faced a potential maximum sentence of up to life in prison on the Class A crime of gross sexual assault.

Most Class A felonies have a maximum term of up to 30 years in prison, but the crime of gross sexual assault involving a child younger than 12 carries a sentence under Maine law of up to any number of years in prison.

Mitchell sentenced Connors to 28 years, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He will also have to register on the Maine sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

“I want to ask the court for mercy,” Connors said during brief comments. “I could sit here all day and say sorry for everything that’s going on, but I don’t think that will impact much. I will work my hardest to be a better person and learn from the mistakes I’ve made in my life. That’s all I can do.”

Mitchell said the most important aggravating factor in the case was the impact on the boy and his family. He said other important aggravating factors were Connors testifying untruthfully during his trial, the uncharged allegations which he said he would give some weight, and Connors’ apparent lack of remorse for what he did.

“I’ve yet to hear him express any concern about the victim, or any remorse about the impact on the victim in this matter,” Mitchell said before delivering his sentence.

The boy did not attend Tuesday’s sentencing, but his grandmother did. She said he faced bullying at school and in their community from people who didn’t understand or believe him after the accusations against Connors spread. She said what Connors did impacted their entire family’s peace and emotional well-being, and will remain with them forever.

Connors’ mother, Pamela Connors, said Chris was a good son to her and would do anything for his many friends. She said his father wouldn’t accept that Connors was gay and they didn’t speak for 10 years. She said Connors was also in an abusive relationship with a man for several years.

“My son has been through a lot,” she said. “I know he’s done a lot, also. When he looks me in my eyes and says ‘Mom, I didn’t do this,’ I have to believe him.”

The boy testified he told his parents about what Connors did to him the morning after the incident. The boy told a Children’s Advocacy Center interviewer he ran to the bathroom and locked the door to get away from Connors after the assault. The boy said Connors lingered outside the bathroom, urging him not to tell anyone.

Connors was arrested in October 2023 after having been the subject of an investigation by the Clinton Police Department over several months.