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A former athletic trainer who admitted to sexually abusing a student was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison with all but three years suspended.
Benjamin Pushard, 29, of Brewer pleaded guilty in April at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor to one count each of gross sexual assault, a Class A crime, unlawful sexual contact, a Class B crime, and criminal restraint, a Class D crime.
The nine-year sentence is for his gross sexual assault charge, while a two-year sentence for unlawful sexual contact will be served concurrently. He was sentenced to six months in jail for criminal restraint.
In addition to prison time, Pushard was sentenced to six years of probation. If he violates his probation, he may have to serve the suspended prison term. He also will have to register as a sex offender for life.
Pushard has been free on $30,000 cash bail with conditions that he not contact the victim or her family.
The abuse took place between April 1 and May 10, 2015, according to the indictment dated May 25, 2022.
The abuse allegations against Pushard came to light in May 2021 when the victim sued Pushard, the Brewer School Department and Pushard’s employer, who was contracted by the department to provide athletic training services. She filed the lawsuit in federal court before she reported the abuse to police.
Now 22, the victim is seeking $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Bangor, with oral arguments scheduled for Feb. 1.
The woman is not being named by the Bangor Daily News because she is a victim of sexual abuse.
The criminal charges focused on conduct that took place over the five- or six-week period in 2015 when she was 13 and he was 20, however, the civil complaint alleged the abuse continued into 2017.
In exchange for his guilty pleas, the following charges were dismissed: four counts of gross sexual assault, one a Class A crime, one a Class B crime and two counts that are Class C crimes; and one count of unlawful sexual contact, a Class C crime.
On the charges he pleaded guilty to, Pushard faced up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 on the gross sexual assault charge, up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 on the unlawful sexual contact charge, and up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the criminal restraint charge.
Pushard reported to the Penobscot County Jail at 5 p.m. Jan. 16, according to court records.
