PARIS – A jury found Kurt W. Sturtevant Sr. of Mechanic Falls guilty of gross sexual assault and three counts of unlawful sexual contact against a young girl Tuesday.

The Oxford County Superior Court jury began deliberating shortly before 11:45 a.m. and delivered the verdict around 2 p.m. on the second day of the 41-year-old man’s trial.

Sturtevant is being held in the Oxford County Jail on $25,000 bail and $100,000 surety. Cole has ordered him to have a forensic evaluation in Augusta prior to sentencing.

He faces a maximum of 35 years in prison on the combined convictions.

Sturtevant was indicted last June on charges related to incidents that occurred in Hartford in 1998, 2003 and 2005.

The trial began Monday with the prosecution calling four witnesses, who recalled several incidents of improper conduct between Sturtevant and the girl.

These included Sturtevant slapping the girl on the buttocks, calling her “hot,” kissing her on the lips, and disapproving of the girl talking with boys.

The girl also took the stand and emotionally detailed the incidents of sexual abuse. She accused Sturtevant of performing oral sex on her and touching her genitals.

“Either you’re going to see that kid on the Oscars in a couple of years,” Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor told the jury in his closing statement Tuesday, “or she’s telling the truth.”

The defense called a witness Monday, who said she was close to the girl but the girl never told her about the sexual abuse. She also said the girl’s grandmother told her that they had to get Sturtevant out of the girl’s life.

Much of the testimony focused on a phone call Sturtevant made to the girl in 2006, asking for help in setting up a DVD player. The girl was staying at her grandmother’s and had put the call on speakerphone. When the girl refused to help him in person, Sturtevant said, “I haven’t done anything inappropriate to you for a long time.” The call prompted the girl’s grandmother to file sex abuse charges in April 2006.

Sturtevant testified Tuesday that the call had been misinterpreted.

“I said that word,” he argued, “but what I meant was that I wasn’t being mean to her.”

Sturtevant maintained that he had not committed any sexual abuse. He said he would “smack her on the butt” as a form of discipline, and only disapproved of the girl talking to significantly older boys.

Under cross-examination, Sturtevant admitted he did kiss the girl on the lips once as punishment for spitting into his cereal.

Defense attorney John Jenness Jr. pointed out the length of time between the incidents and the complaint. He also noted disparities among the witness accounts and said Sturtevant should be acquitted on reasonable doubt.

In his closing argument, O’Connor said there was no reason to doubt the girl’s testimony, and that the other witnesses had nothing to gain from it.

“A case like this, I think all the credit goes to the victim,” O’Connor said after the verdict. “She was very brave.”

Jenness was not available for comment Tuesday.