A Damariscotta woman pleaded guilty April 18 to assaulting her young daughter and endangering the child's welfare.

In a deal with the District Attorney's Office, Rebbeca E. Debella, 25, will wait a year to be sentenced and then serve no more than two months in jail.

The sentence would be for 364 days, but with a 60-day cap on the amount she would serve. The deal depends on Debella continuing substance abuse counseling and psychological counseling, being subject to testing for substance abuse, and avoiding further trouble with the law.

The assault charge she pleaded guilty to is a felony, which can garner up to five years in prison; however, the deal calls for that charge to be bumped down to a misdemeanor 12 months from now.

If she breaks any of the conditions, the assault charge would remain a felony and she would risk a longer sentence.

During Thursday's proceeding in Wiscasset District Court, Judge Daniel Billings asked Debella: “Are you pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty?”

“Yes,” she answered.

Debella pleaded not guilty January 31 to the original charges.

Assistant District Attorney Jon Liberman said the counseling Debella has been undergoing was important to his support of the deal.

“She has done well and she continues to do well. I think this (agreement) will give her added incentive to continue the good work,” Liberman said in interview following the hearing.

According to Liberman and Debella's lawyer Philip Cohen, Debella now has custody of her child, who is now just over 1 year old; the Maine Department of Human Services has closed its own case and fully supports the mother-daughter reunification, the lawyers said.

According to a police report on the November 2, 2012, incident in Damariscotta that led to the charges, Debella said she tossed the child onto the couch and pushed her with her foot; her ex-boyfriend, Keith Robinson, the child's father, told police Debella threw the child onto the couch and kicked her in the face.

Liberman said if the case had gone to trial, he probably would have been able to prove Debella tossed the child. “But I don't know if we would have been able to prove a kick,” he said in the interview.

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