AUGUSTA (AP) — Sentencing for a Sidney man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl he was baby-sitting and recording the attack on his cellphone has been delayed.
A judge on Monday postponed sentencing for 25-year-old Eric Bard at the request of defense attorneys, who want Bard to undergo a mental health evaluation by a psychosexual expert.
Sentencing will now take place in March at the earliest.
Bard pleaded guilty in August to 21 charges including rape and sexual exploitation in connection with alleged assaults in 2011 and 2012.
Bard’s lawyers have also appealed several pre-trial rulings to the state Supreme Judicial Court.
His attorneys had previously sought to have him found incompetent to stand trial.
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