SKOWHEGAN – A Pittsfield psychologist pleaded guilty this week to assaulting a disabled veteran last December, just days after he had returned from counseling soldiers in Iraq.

Ciro Olivares, 54, assaulted Gerald Barber, 58, in December with a metal chair during an argument about rent owed to Olivares, who was Barber’s landlord.

Barber has limited movement and can communicate only in one-word sentences, according to police. During the argument, police said, Barber raised his cane to Olivares but never struck his landlord.

Olivares used a metal chair to beat Barber, who required treatment at Sebasticook Valley Hospital for injuries to his face, shoulders, ribs, arm and elbow, according to police reports.

District Attorney Evert Fowle said Thursday that Olivares’ sentencing was deferred for six months, and that if he follows all the criteria ordered, the charges will be dismissed.

Oliveras must seek psychological counseling, have no contact with the victim, and make a $750 donation to Barber.

Fowle said the sentence was understandable after he investigated Oliveras’ background. “He has no previous record, he too suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and he has led an honorable life,” Fowle said. “Immediately after this incident, he checked himself into the veterans center for counseling.”

Pittsfield police Officer Jeff Vanadestine said at the time of Olivares’ arrest that the man confessed to beating Barber, but added that he had no idea why he did it. Olivares’ family members raised post-traumatic stress disorder as a possible defense.

Olivares has no previous criminal record and served for several years on the SAD 53 board before leaving for medical service in Iraq in 2005. He is a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Barber was familiar to local police because they had gone to his home only the week before the assault to help him when he fell. Vanadestine discovered the man had no heat and was unable to get to the door in time to answer it for Meals on Wheels volunteers.

After discovering that Barber was only managing to live alone because of the good deeds of a neighbor, Vanadestine arranged for him to move to an assisted living facility in Gardiner.

“The most important person here is the victim,” Fowle said. “And the most important result is that he is now being looked after.”