AUBURN – A Lewiston man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison in connection with an assault last year on his 6-month-old daughter.

A jury convicted Anthony Mazerolle, 25, of aggravated assault and assault stemming from an Oct. 9 incident after which his daughter, Kela Coffey, was rushed to the hospital with bleeding in the brain. Doctors say she may suffer mental retardation, loss of major motor skills, epilepsy and blindness as a result of the trauma.

A doctor who testified for prosecutors at the two-day trial said Coffey’s injuries were consistent with her being thrown to the floor where she struck her head.

Mazerolle gave conflicting statements to police about the incident, including a scenario in which Coffey fell off a chair. He didn’t testify at trial. Nor did he comment at his sentencing Friday afternoon in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Worden read a letter penned by the mother, who is deaf.

“I trusted you because I thought you loved her,” Kea Coffey wrote. Instead, she said, “You almost killed Kela.”

The image of her infant daughter lying limp on the floor would remain with her forever, she wrote. She said she hoped Mazerolle would get the maximum sentence allowed by law.

“I know God forgives, but I don’t think I can forgive you.”

She sat on a bench in the courtroom as an interpreter signed her written words back to her.

Justice Paul Fritzsche imposed the sentence prosecutors recommended: Nine years with all but six years suspended, plus three years probation. On the assault conviction, he sentenced Mazerolle to 4 years, to be served concurrently.

Mazerolle was primary caregiver to Kela Coffey, who was born after Mazerolle’s relationship with the baby’s mother, Kea, had ended. The couple reunited after Kela’s birth.

Kea Coffey had taken their baby to her pediatrician before Oct. 9 for an examination of bruises and to run tests for medical conditions that might explain them. The tests came back normal, witnesses said at trial.

On Oct. 9, Kea Coffey entered the room where Kela had been in a bassinet and found her on the floor, unresponsive and not breathing. Mazerolle, who was in the room, took no action to help, Worden said.

Despite Mazerolle’s protests, Kea Coffey called 911, but a dispatcher had difficulty understanding her. Coffey then drove the baby to a nearby hospital. After initial tests revealed bleeding in the brain, Kela Coffey was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, Worden said.

Mazerolle sat without reaction during the sentencing. He has shown no remorse for the crime and has no sense of responsibility, Fritzsche said.

He considered Mazerolle’s difficult upbringing, including foster homes and evidence of abuse at the hands of his father. “You were given a bad hand in life,” he said.

Mazerolle was supposed to take medication to help control his anger, but stopped taking it, Worden reminded the judge.

But Mazerolle’s actions show a pattern that he is “always out to take care of yourself first,” Fritzsche said.

He said Mazerolle should have been aware of his inability to manage as his daughter’s primary caregiver and taken some action to keep himself from abusing her.

Fritzsche said Mazerolle must, as a condition of probation, undergo psychological counseling as well as substance abuse treatment.

He said Mazerolle could appeal both his conviction and sentence.

Defense attorney Tom Goodwin said there was no convincing evidence his client hated his daughter and meant to hurt her.

But Fritzsche said Mazerolle was, “at the very least, reckless” in his actions.