ALFRED – Controversial Portland landlord Joseph Soley has been acquitted of an assault charge. A York County Superior Court jury on Thursday found Soley innocent of assaulting a woman in his Old Orchard Beach condominium in August 2001.

Soley was among the first to buy abandoned buildings in Portland’s Old Port before it emerged as a thriving shopping and entertainment district. He has been in the news in recent years because of complaints by tenants and city officials about health and safety violations in his buildings.