ROCKLAND – A jury rendered mixed verdicts Wednesday in the case of a former midcoast coach accused of sex-related charges involving a teen-ager.

The Knox County Superior Court found Ashley J. Hunt II, 40, of Rockland not guilty on a sex charge, but guilty on an assault charge.

Hunt, who was a junior varsity baseball coach at SAD 50’s Georges Valley High School, appeared dazed by the jury’s verdicts.

In February, Hunt, who had also been an SAD 40 coach at A.D. Gray Middle School, was acquitted by a Lincoln County Superior Court jury on numerous similar charges. In that case, he was accused of two felony counts of unlawful sexual contact and eight misdemeanor counts of assault, involving two pupils, who were 13 at the time.

SAD 40 comprises Waldoboro, Warren, Union, Friendship and Washington. SAD 50 comprises Thomaston, St. George and Cushing.

In the SAD 50 case, the Knox County jurors deliberated for 31/2 hours Wednesday before finding Hunt not guilty of unlawful sexual contact, but guilty of assault. Both charges were misdemeanors involving a 15-year-old female who was the manager of the junior varsity boys baseball team during the 2000 season.

“Justice?” Hunt said following the verdict, pointing to the word scrolled into the woodwork above the judge’s bench. “Injustice. That’s what’s happened here.”

Defense attorney Rick Morse said that it was too soon to say whether his client would appeal the jury’s decision.

Justice John Atwood set sentencing for May 30.

Assistant District Attorney Janice Stuver said the assault verdict could involve any of the actions that Hunt was accused of that did not involve genital contact such as touching or kissing.

Testimony during the 21/2 day trial came from numerous witnesses, including Georges Valley High School student athletes who played on Hunt’s team, as well as the victim, a fellow coach and a man who was the manager at a Rockland store where Hunt worked.

The Knox County testimony sounded much like that heard in the Lincoln County case, where many witnesses said that they noticed nothing unusual about Hunt’s relationship with the victim.

When Hunt took the witness stand Wednesday, he admitted to the court that in May 2000, the victim initiated a kiss at the high school that lasted a “split second … on my lips.” Then the victim’s brother walked into the room, he said.

Stuver told jurors that the victim’s brother saw them kissing with their mouths locked and arms around each other.

When Morse asked what he thought about the kiss, Hunt said, “This sounds stupid, but I didn’t think about it.” Hunt indicated that he was worried about the whereabouts of some sports equipment.

“This had happened once before and I thought this was taken care of,” he told the court, “and I was caught off-guard again.

“I should have handled it better,” he said.

On the stand, Hunt admitted to complimenting the victim and her co-manager on their clothing.

“A pretty woman catches my eye,” he said, adding that he likes nicely dressed women with nice figures. “I say women, not children.”

When he first went to police to talk about the incident, he did not tell Thomaston Detective Michael Janczura about the first kiss, he said, because he was embarrassed. He did call back shortly after leaving the police station to report the omission.

The defense attorney told jurors that the victim concocted the story and that her testimony and reports to police were inconsistent and contradictory.

“The reason why is because she’s making this up,” Morse said.

In her closing arguments, Stuver said that the victim was being questioned about not telling anyone about the contact before her brother did.

“Why didn’t he tell anyone?” Stuver asked the jury, referring to Hunt. “Is it OK for him not to tell because he’s embarrassed and ashamed?”