AUBURN – It was an irresponsible investigation of claims by an obsessive high school girl that triggered the sex-related charges against Lewiston Mayor Lionel Guay, his attorney told jurors shortly before they left the courtroom to decide for themselves.

Apparently, they agreed.

Guay, 65, was found not guilty Wednesday in Androscoggin County Superior Court of three counts of sexual touching Danielle Ramon, 19, of Auburn while she was a receptionist at his accounting firm last year.

The charges included two counts of unlawfully touching her breasts and one count of touching her buttocks.

Jurors could have convicted him on alternative counts of assault for the same incidents. But they didn’t.

They also concluded he wasn’t guilty of assault for an alleged goodbye kiss on the lips. Or, they decided it never happened.

In the end, Guay was acquitted on all seven counts of class D misdemeanors.

Had he been convicted of a sex-related crime, he would have faced possible jail time and fines and could have been forced to resign his mayoral post.

Guay stood clutching the hand of his attorney, Jennifer Ferguson, as the verdict was read. Then they hugged.

His family, who occupied the front row of the courtroom bench behind him, celebrated with hugs and kisses.

Debra Ramon, the mother of Guay’s accuser, shouted, “Why don’t you kiss her on the lips?”

It was hugs and kisses that served as the focal point of much of the testimony during the two-day trial. Guay did not take the stand, but his attorney sought to show that kissing on the mouth and other physical displays were a normal part of life in the mayor’s family.

On Wednesday, the third day, the two lawyers delivered closing arguments, shaping the evidence in their respective efforts to persuade the jury. Jurors deliberated for 3 hours before returning their not-guilty verdict.

Jurors sent notes with questions to the judge four times. They played a taped interview and a recorded phone call placed by Ramon to Guay. They asked that portions of testimony be read back.

After the verdict, Guay left the courthouse with his family. He declined to be interviewed, saying he wasn’t surprised by his acquittal. “The verdict speaks for itself,” he said, then requested the media leave him and his family alone.

Ferguson left the courthouse through a side exit, avoiding reporters.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin seemed to take disappointment about the verdict in stride, but expressed concern about the conclusions people might draw from it.

“We hope that the verdict doesn’t send the message to anyone out there that it’s OK to be patting your teenage secretary on the behind. It’s not OK to be touching her breasts. It’s not OK to be forcing a kiss on her lips,” she said.

Robbin said she hoped women who believe they are victims of sexual harassment at work would continue to report that behavior.

Robbin commended Danielle Ramon for stepping forward despite the outcome.

“It’s a young woman taking on the mayor of Lewiston. It’s a big battle for her. And it’s always difficult when you have a young woman taking on an older man.”

Ramon’s mother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, offered emotionally charged comments to reporters outside the courthouse as her daughter waited in a nearby car.

She said Danielle only revealed details of what she said happened at Guay’s accounting firm because her parents were considering sending her younger sister there to work. As a high school student, she worked part-time at his firm as a secretary and receptionist and helped out on tax filings during tax time.

“She didn’t want to do this,” Debra Ramon said of the trial, “to herself or to her family.”

Danielle Ramon, 19, a former member of the National Honor Society is now in college.

She got the job, her first, through family connections; her grandmother was a longtime friend of Guay’s wife.

Ramon’s mother said neither she nor her daughter was surprised Guay was acquitted.

“The people of Lewiston and Auburn … accept that the Guay family is invincible,” she said. “Who the heck is going to believe a 17-year-old over a 65-year-old mayor? Who would believe that? Nobody.”

Robbin, who met with jurors after the verdict, said some described having difficulty with the way the verdict form was written in an effort to assign motive to his reported actions.

The Sun Journal attempted to interview about half of the 12 jurors – seven men and five women – as they left the courthouse, but they declined.