AUGUSTA — An Albion man was sentenced to 75 days behind bars on charges he had sexual contact with a child and saved sexually explicit photographs of her on his phone, a sentence the victim and her family say is a slap on the wrist.

Sean Eori, 44, was found guilty at trial of unlawful sexual contact and possession of sexually explicit material in January but acquitted of other more serious charges, including gross sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor, all involving the same victim.

The victim, who was 14 or 15 when the crimes against her took place, said Tuesday at Eori’s sentencing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta that the criminal justice system failed to protect her, even after she reported to authorities that Eori sexually assaulted her. She said Walter McKee, Eori’s defense attorney, was allowed to badger her on the witness stand, and neither Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell nor prosecutor Amanda Seekins, an assistant district attorney, did anything to stop it.

“I don’t feel as though the system has protected me whatsoever,” the victim said, calling the consequences he faces a slap on the wrist. She said she doesn’t feel she can tell young girls they will be protected by the system if they report something similar.

Her parents, who also spoke before Eori was sentenced, said she was failed and abused by the state’s criminal justice system.

The girl’s mother said the family has undergone trauma counseling for what Eori, who she described as a monster, put them through adding her daughter can’t sleep through the night due to the trauma she experienced.

Her father said authorities failed to protect his daughter, and that included when McKee badgered her when she was on the witness stand. He said the judge as well as the state’s prosecutor should have stopped it.

“I should have shot (Eori), because the way (the trial) has gone, at least I could have chosen my representation, other than this ineffective state counsel we were given,” he said in court. “From this day forward, it’s now on your shoulders. Because you guys stood there and let her be abused one more time.”

Numerous family members and friends wrote letters or testified on behalf of Eori, saying he is very generous and honest.

Mario Eori said his son is of such high moral character he should have made Sean’s middle name “Character.”

After the hearing ended, court officers closely monitored the courthouse parking lot as families and friends from both sides departed the courthouse, some appearing to exchange words with each other as they left.

In issuing a 180-day Kennebec County jail sentence with all but 75 days suspended, Mitchel said as a judge he had to be neutral and follow the law in the case, something that often leaves a judge not making either side happy with a decision.

“The court has done everything it can to make sure the process is followed,” Mitchell said. “I also want to say I think (the attorneys) in this case conducted themselves very well, and that includes the defense counsel and the prosecution. I understand not everyone is happy with the result, and that’s on both sides, to some extent.”

Mitchell said he appreciated the girl’s comments about her experience in the criminal justice system.

Seekins had sought a sentence of 364 days in jail, while McKee argued for a 90-day sentence, with all but 10 days suspended.

Eori was accused of having sex with a teenage girl as many as 100 times over 1 1/2 years, and possessing several nude photographs of her on his phone, but was found not guilty on most of those allegations.

Following his weeklong trial, Eori was convicted of unlawful sexual contact with the victim between Jan. 8, 2021, and Jan. 6, 2022. He was also convicted of two counts of possession of sexually explicit materials. All three counts are Class D misdemeanors, punishable by up to a year in prison. He was acquitted of seven other charges on the fifth day of his trial, the most serious of them gross sexual assault, a Class A crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The Kennebec Journal is not identifying the girl or her family because its policy is not to identify alleged victims of sexual assault without their permission.

Eori owned the D&R Campground in China and is a co-owner of the Winterport Dragway race track, according to municipal records and social media.

Eori acknowledged at trial receiving nude photographs of the girl but said he did not ask for them. He said normally he deleted them from his phone, but he took a screenshot of at least one because he planned to show it to her father, who was his friend, and to talk about the girl with him. He said he later decided not to show her father the photographs and deleted them.

McKee said Eori had no criminal record and now will be forced to register as a sex offender in Maine for the rest of his life, allowing people to see where he lives and works.

“Sean’s name will forever be associated with his convictions for unlawful sexual contact and for possession of sexually explicit materials,” he said in his sentencing memo. “The label ‘sex offender’ will be Sean’s scarlet letter, forever to be worn by him.”

McKee said his cross-examination of the girl “was just tough questioning, nothing more, nothing less.”

Seekins said Eori demonstrated his true nature with his actions, which included him, an adult, manipulating a child and taking advantage of his friendship with her father to gain access to her.

“Our criminal justice system is terribly hard on victims,” Maeghan Maloney, Kennebec County district attorney, said following the sentencing. “The DA’s office and the state police used every available resource to prosecute this case.”

McKee said Tuesday he plans to appeal. Eori was allowed to remain free on bail, which was reduced from $25,000 to $5,000, pending court action on his appeal.