SKOWHEGAN – A 20-year-old Industry man pleaded innocent this week to what a Somerset County prosecutor is calling “the most serious case of domestic assault outside of homicide I’ve ever seen.”

Eyidi Ambila, formerly of Skowhegan, is accused of using an electrical extension cord and a broomstick to savagely beat his ex-girlfriend for more than six hours at her Skowhegan apartment two weeks ago. Ambila is also accused of forcing the couple’s 21/2-year-old son to watch some of the torture.

He is charged with aggravated assault, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and obstructing report of a crime or injury. Additional charges, including kidnapping, could be presented to a grand jury in December.

Somerset County First Assistant District Attorney Evert Fowle said some of the 20-year-old woman’s injuries are permanent and include fractures, open wounds, slash marks and bruises.

According to police, Ambila went to his ex-girlfriend’s home late on Oct. 9, ripped the telephone from the wall and began beating the woman with an electrical extension cord.

The next morning, he allegedly forced the woman into a tub of cold water to reduce the swellings from the lashing and threatened to throw an electrical fan into the water.

Police said he also beat the woman with a broomstick, repeatedly kicked her and threatened her with a knife.

He also forced the woman to drive him from Skowhegan to Waterville, after which she reported the assault.

Judge Douglas Clapp continued Ambila’s bail at $200,000 cash or $500,000 double surety. He is to reappear in Skowhegan District Court on Dec. 3. If convicted, Ambila faces up to 15 years in prison.

After his court appearance, Ambila was returned to Lincoln County Jail in Wiscasset where he was taken last Sunday after a failed suicide attempt at the Skowhegan Correctional Facility. Jail personnel stepped in when they observed Ambila tearing a towel into a noose and putting it around his neck on closed circuit television monitors.