LEWISTON – State police detectives and prosecutors rushed the investigation into charges that Mayor Lionel Guay groped an employee, his lawyer said.

The mayor of Maine’s second-largest city was preparing to provide evidence of the victim’s past “dishonesty” when Guay was charged Wednesday, said lawyer Jennifer Ferguson.

The attorney general’s office instead rushed to get the charges filed rather than conducting a more thorough investigation, she said. “They didn’t want to be accused of sweeping it under the rug” because of next week’s election, Ferguson added.

Guay, 64, was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a young woman who worked at his accounting firm between February and September. He faces three counts of unlawful sexual touching and four counts of assault. Guay denied the accusations.

“No, no, I didn’t,” he replied when asked if he had touched the teen’s breasts or her buttocks, or had kissed her.

Guay is running for

re-election to a second two-year term in next Tuesday’s municipal election, and he said he has no intention of dropping out. He is challenged by Charles Soule, a perennial candidate.

The 18-year-old accuser alleges that Guay touched her breasts on Feb. 11, touched her buttocks on numerous occasions on March 15, and touched her breasts and kissed her on the mouth on Sept. 26, according to court documents.

The mother of the alleged victim told the Sun Journal newspaper that the family would have no comment on the case.