AUBURN – Jeremy Allen claims he spanked his 21-month-old son with a wooden spoon because he loved him. The jurors who heard his case didn’t see it that way.

After three-and-a-half hours of deliberations, the panel of five men and seven women convicted the 30-year-old Navy journalist of assault.

Since Nathaniel Allen was younger than 6 when the assault occurred, it is a felony conviction that will likely cause Allen to lose his job as a deputy public affairs officer for the Navy.

It also could land him in prison for up to five years. His sentencing is scheduled for November.

Allen, who has readily admitted that he spanked his adopted son on Feb. 13, 2003, showed little emotion when the jurors announced their verdict Friday morning. After speaking briefly with his attorney, he walked over to his family with his arms folded across his chest.

“That’s the American justice system for you,” he said, shaking his head.

Allen, who testified that he hit his son because the boy refused to pick up his toys, declined an interview with reporters after the trial. He said he wanted to wait until after he is sentenced.

His lawyer, George Hess, described him as being devastated and distraught. Hess acknowledged that Allen would likely be discharged from the Navy.

“But the biggest thing is that he lost his son,” Hess said.

Nathaniel Allen died Feb. 15, 2003. Allen’s wife, Sarah, has been charged with killing the toddler.

Police say that on the evening of Feb. 14, after Jeremy Allen had left the family’s home in Lisbon for a business trip to New Hamsphire, Sarah Allen shook the boy with enough force to cause a fatal head injury.

She was tried for manslaughter in June, but her case ended in a mistrial after the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. She is scheduled to be retried next month.

Jeremy Allen was charged with assault after his son was rushed to the hospital for the head injury, and an emergency room nurse discovered red and purple bruises on the boy’s buttocks and upper thigh.

The father has admitted from the start that he hit his son. But he has maintained that he was simply disciplining the boy with a few mild spankings. Corporal punishment is lawful in Maine as long as the pain is “transient” and any marks are temporary.

The state argued during Jeremy Allen’s trial that the deep bruises discovered on the boy’s backside were evidence of child abuse, not mild spankings.

“I thought the case against Jeremy Allen was very straightforward,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese said. “We had good evidence, the photographs and a confession.”

Medical experts who testified for the state said the photographs taken of the boy’s buttocks and thighs showed eight imprints. Allen testified that he only hit the boy three times.

“I found his testimony to be less than compelling,” Marchese said. “He told baldfaced lies.”

Hess attempted to convince the jurors that the boy’s bruises, as seen in the photographs, appeared much worse because of blood-clotting problems that the toddler experienced as a result of the head trauma.

Despite the outcome, Hess commended the jurors for carefully reviewing the case.

“I do respect the decision,” he said. “But I respectfully disagree with it.”

Hess said he plans to appeal the conviction to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman has allowed Allen to remain free until his sentencing. As a condition of his release, he cannot have contact with children under 10, unless they are relatives and the visits are supervised by another adult.

Gorman also told Allen that he can have contact with children in the context of his job at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. As the judge discussed the work-related exemption, Sarah Allen shook her head and whispered, “That doesn’t matter.”