AUBURN — Zachary Tomaselli tried to fire his lawyer Thursday while arguing he should be free to visit a restaurant where the mother of his sexual assault victim works.

Tomaselli, 23, of 425 College St., Lewiston, appeared at Androscoggin County Superior Court Law Library for a hearing on his motion to drop his court-appointed attorney, Justin Leary.

Tomaselli said he disagreed with his attorney’s advice to allow his bail conditions to be expanded to prevent him from having contact with the victim’s family.

Prosecutors filed a motion last week seeking the additional prohibition after they received a phone call from the mother of Tomaselli’s sexual assault victim saying he was at a restaurant where she works. A judge agreed and granted the motion.

Tomaselli said Thursday morning that Leary “has no understanding of my side of things” and “doesn’t listen to me.”

Tomaselli said he was attacked last week by the mother of his victim when he visited the restaurant where she works.

“I should be allowed to eat there . . . without her attacking me as I was eating,” he told the judge. He also said he was “really good friends” with the victim’s brother. Tomaselli said he felt his civil rights were being violated.

But Justice Robert Clifford said the added restriction was “routine” for a defendant free on bail.

“You can’t put yourself in these positions, Mr. Tomaselli,” Clifford said.

Clifford denied Tomaselli’s motion to terminate Leary’s representation in the case, saying he didn’t understand the defendant’s reasoning.

“Mr. Leary, from my experience, is a very capable, skilled and knowledgeable attorney,” Clifford said. It’s hard to find a better attorney in central Maine, Clifford said.

He said he was “inclined to reject” an earlier plea agreement that would have allowed Tomaselli to serve three years and three months of a 12-year sentence. Because the Maine Department of Corrections requires inmates to be incarcerated for at least four years in order to participate in a sex offender counseling program, Clifford said he likely would only accept a plea that would put Tomaselli behind bars for a minimum of four years so he would get the counseling he needed.

Tomaselli could accept the judge’s proposed sentence or opt to take his chances at trial. He pleaded guilty shortly before Christmas to four counts in an 11-count indictment, including gross sexual assault. That charge alone carries a 30-year maximum sentence. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and two counts of visual sexual aggression against a child.

Tomaselli told the judge he would argue there were “very good” outpatient programs.

Tomaselli is nationally recognized as the third accuser of former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. Tomaselli claimed he was a victim of sexual abuse when he was 13. He claims Fine invited him to accompany the team to a game in Pittsburgh and later molested him in a hotel room.

He has been free on $2,500 unsecured bond pending his sentencing. No date has been set. A probation officer who was working on a pre-sentencing report had told the court about the four-year minimum sex-offender program.

Police said Tomaselli met his victim, who was younger than 14, at a day camp where Tomaselli worked as an assistant soccer coach in 2009. Later, Tomaselli struck up a friendship with the boy and eventually they had sexual intercourse, police said.

In November, Tomaselli accused Fine of molesting him in 2002. A Syracuse prosecutor voiced skepticism of Tomaselli’s accusations against Fine, but that did not stop Tomaselli from filing a lawsuit against the former assistant coach on Dec. 7. A federal investigation continues. Fine was fired after Tomaselli and two others went public with their accusations.

Fine has denied the charges.

Tomaselli filed a complaint for a protection from harassment order against Fine in 8th District Court in Lewiston the first week of February. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday on his complaint was canceled after Tomaselli filed a motion on Feb. 29 to dismiss his petition. A temporary order based on the complaint was terminated.

Leonard Sharon, Fine’s attorney in Maine, said he had filed notice on Feb. 23 to take an oral deposition of Tomaselli. At about the same time, Sharon had directed his private investigator to subpoena records of Tomaselli’s phone, from which he claimed he received harassing calls from Fine.

Leonard said Tomaselli told him he would dismiss the case and he did.

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