MACHIAS – A former Eastport man was sentenced Tuesday to 2 1/2 years in prison and six years’ probation for the gross sexual assault of a Calais girl.

Bradley Demolet, 19, sobbed throughout much of his sentencing by Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills, and his apology to the girl and her family was inaudible as he choked on his tears.

Mills declared a brief recess to allow Demolet to bring himself under control before he was led from the courtroom. She denied his request for a one-week stay to spend Christmas with his family.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh said Demolet was living as a foster child with his victim’s family when the assault occurred.

He began touching a 13-year-old member of the family immediately after moving into the home, and his behavior progressed to intercourse, which he continued to have with the girl even after being confronted by her parents, Cavanaugh said.

Demolet pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault, but he continued to deny that he had sexual intercourse with or struck the girl. He told authorities that she “came on” to him, the prosecutor said. “That’s not somebody that’s amenable to treatment. That’s a pathological liar.”

Cavanaugh said the discrepancies in Demolet’s version of events are similar to the discrepancies in the story he told in 1994 when he and four other boys – including two of his brothers – were arrested for causing $100,000 in damage to an Eastport home.

Demolet was 12 at the time of the Eastport break-in. He was sentenced to the Maine Youth Center until his 18th birthday, but he was released within weeks.

Cavanaugh recommended that Demolet’s base sentence be 15 to 16 years and that he serve all but a third of that.

Rather than probation, Cavanaugh recommended that Demolet be put under supervised release when he leaves prison. Given Demolet’s psychological profile, he wouldn’t benefit from probation conditions such as counseling, the prosecutor said.

Norman Toffolon, Demolet’s attorney, recommended 18 months in prison.

Demolet grew up in a home where there were no boundaries, Toffolon said, and his conditions were such that the courts removed him from his home.

The psychological report indicates that Demolet is susceptible to tears and, given that characteristic, he would be victimized continually if sent to state prison, Toffolon said.

“Bradley is much younger than his chronological age,” the defense attorney said.

A condition of his probation is that he have no contact with females under 18, and Mills ordered that he register as a sexual predator after he is released from prison.

Mills said the impact of Demolet’s actions on his victim cannot be overestimated and that his version of both the sexual assault and his juvenile crime are “incredible.”

But Mills said she was not prepared to give up on Demolet, given his age and his upbringing. With his history, it is no surprise he ended up in court at 19, although that is not an excuse for what he did, the judge said.

“To send him to prison for 12 years would be to assure that when he gets out of prison, he’ll be a career criminal,” Mills said.