If Lee B. Bennett stays out of trouble for a year, and does everything else he has agreed to do, the 36-year-old Waldoboro man will get no jail time for a domestic violence assault he admitted to in court March 28.

The crime Bennett pleaded guilty to in Lincoln County Superior Court is a felony because he was previously convicted of domestic violence assault in Wiscasset District Court in 2010.

The latest case stemmed from a January 31 incident in Waldoboro. According to a Waldoboro police officer's report, Stephanie Dudley said Bennett slapped her in the face, punched her in the stomach, slammed her down in the bathroom shower and then punched her again.

The two were in a long-term relationship, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright said.

Wright offered Bennett a sentence of two years in jail, all suspended, and two years' probation. The sentence depends on Bennett having no further incidents between now and his next court date, set for March 27, 2014.

Bennett also has to keep attending the batterers intervention program he entered after the January incident, Wright said.

If Bennett violates those conditions, he could lose the suspended sentence and receive up to five years in prison.

Dudley, the victim in the case, fully supports the agreement's terms, Wright said. Because of that, and the responsibility Bennett is taking, including entering the intervention program, no jail time was being sought, Wright said.

Superior Court Justice Joyce Wheeler heard Bennett's guilty plea. She told him it might be another judge who sees him when he's back to receive the two years' probation in 2014. When he's serving that, he needs to keep in mind the two years of suspended jail time hanging over him in case of a probation violation, she said.

“You can't ignore that that's part of your sentence,” Wheeler told Bennett.

In a telephone interview later, Bennett said he has attended seven classes in his program and was about to go to his eighth.  He and Dudley have been together 12 years and have children together, he said.

“I pleaded guilty and I was guilty,” Bennett said. “I think I've done  damage to our family life and I just wanted to be able to get back to a normal family life.”

The classes are helping him be able to do that, he said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.