ROCKLAND — Appearing at his initial court hearing before judge Joseph Field on Jan. 20, a Lincolnville man, who was charged by Camden police with assaulting a female victim, pleaded guilty in Knox County Unified Court.

Wesley M. Herrick, 35, was arrested Jan. 16 by Camden Police Officer Timothy Davis for domestic violence assault and transported to Knox County Jail in Rockland. His bail was set at $10,000 cash. At Herrick’s court appearance Jan. 20, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail with all but seven days suspended. He was also ordered to serve two years of probation after his release.

The victim reported the incident to Camden police and according to the report filed by Davis, he noted bruises on her face and forehead when she came to the station to be interviewed. She told police that at approximately 2 a.m. on Jan. 16 there was an argument and physical struggle with Herrick after he came after her, and when she pushed him back, she said he punched her twice in the face and she fell on the floor.

The victim had allegedly connected with Herrick after she had been to a Camden bar and did not feel she should drive home.

A second person in the residence with Herrick heard the fighting and went upstairs and had the victim stay with her until she took her to her car in the morning. She said that she saw the victim on the floor crying and she thought her face was red, according to the affidavit.

When Davis and officer Jeffrey Boudreau went to Herrick’s home, he told police that he had invited the victim over to his residence because she had too much to drink at a Camden bar and he did not want to drive her home. He allegedly said that the victim probably punched herself in the face to make him look bad. Herrick said the victim woke him up when she was punching him and poured hot wax on the back of his neck. He said he pushed the victim on the ground in what he described as a “football takedown” and this was when she might have been hit in the face, according to the police report.

The police noted that Herrick’s description of the incident was different from the one he told them a few minutes earlier, when he allegedly said the victim showed up at his house with a bruised face, after she left the bar.

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com