PARIS – Dwayne Childs will spend the next six years in prison for stabbing his former wife in a fit of rage about the terms of his divorce decree.

Childs, 44, of Dickvale Road, Peru, pleaded guilty Friday in Oxford County Superior Court to a charge of elevated aggravated assault against Mildred Childs, 45.

He was sentenced to 15 years, all but six suspended, and four years’ probation. In return for his guilty plea, the more serious charge of attempted murder was dropped.

Dwayne Childs was also ordered to pay $2,000 to a victim compensation fund within the first two years of his probation, and to have no contact with Mildred Childs or her household.

Court documents say Dwayne Childs went to Mildred Childs’ Dixfield apartment on June 14, 2003, to confront her about the terms of the divorce decree he had received in the mail that day. He was upset about the amount of money he was being ordered to pay.

A psychiatrist who examined Dwayne Childs said that at some point he “snapped,” pulled a 4-inch jackknife from his pocket and began stabbing Mildred Childs around the face, neck and abdomen. When his former wife was able to escape and sought help from neighbors, Dwayne Childs turned the knife on himself, stabbing himself in the stomach.

When police arrived they found Childs lying on a couch, clutching the knife protruding from his stomach. Childs, who believed he had killed his former wife, told police to shoot him.

Police handcuffed him instead, and rescue workers arranged to have Mildred Childs airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. She had suffered a punctured liver and stab wounds to her chest, neck, chin and a finger. Dwayne Childs was treated for his injuries at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.

His attorney, Ron Hoffman, presented testimony showing that Childs had held a manufacturing job for 18 years and had never been fired. In written statements, friends and co-workers described him as a helpful, kind person.

Mildred Childs, however, submitted photographs to the court showing her injuries and said she would never feel safe again because of the attack.