ALFRED — A former University of New England student has been sentenced to 45 days in jail after being found guilty of domestic violence assault and criminal restraint against a young woman in Biddeford.
York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery announced Friday that Nicholas Norton, 20, of Medway, Massachusetts, was sentenced by Superior Court Justice Wayne R. Douglas to 364 days with all but 45 days suspended and two years’ probation. Norton was convicted of the two charges on Sept. 27 after a two-day jury trial.
The charges stemmed from an incident at UNE’s campus in Biddeford in 2017.
Summer Bishop testified in York County Superior Court that on April 30, 2017, she feared for her life when Norton, who was her boyfriend at the time, attacked her in his dormitory room.
Bishop is from Vermont and is now a junior at UNE, studying marine biology. She testified that Norton shoved her to the floor, put his hands over her nose and mouth, shoved his fingers down her throat and tried to strangle her.
Norton told a much different story, stating that although the two were bickering, the fighting did not get physical, and he was helping Bishop care for a nosebleed that she had when she entered his room.
Bishop told the jury that she and Norton had gone out on April 29, 2017, to attend a concert on campus and socialize with friends. As the clock ticked past midnight, into April 30, Bishop decided that she wanted to go back to Siena Hall, where she and Norton lived in separate rooms.
“I was tired, and I was hungry and I really wanted pizza,” Bishop said.
Bishop said Norton gave her his identification card and room key and she went into the building while he went to smoke a cigarette.
Bishop said it took her a few minutes before she saw the text from Norton asking to let him in the building, and when she went down to the door, someone else was letting him in the building.
Bishop said Norton was mad at her for taking too long to get to the front door of the residence hall, and he was still angry when they went upstairs to his dorm room.
“He continued to call me a dumb bitch because I took too long to do things,” she said.
She said she didn’t want to deal with him calling her names anymore so she decided to leave his room. She said she took a bottle of vodka from his refrigerator because she was concerned he might drink excessively.
Bishop said Norton took the bottle of vodka from her bag and put it back in the refrigerator. She said he shoved her to the floor and said something to the effect of “you’re not going anywhere.'”
She said she was scared as he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her on the floor. “I was saying things like, ‘Let me go, let me get up,’ ” she said.
Bishop said Norton told her to be quiet and put his hands on her nose and mouth and his fingers down her throat and up her nose.
“I was really scared and I couldn’t breathe,” she said in court last month. “I started to get really panicked that I wasn’t going to get out.”
Bishop said Norton put his hands on her throat and she flailed her arms, trying to make noise.
“I kept thinking if someone doesn’t hear me, I’m going to die right now,” she said.
Bishop said Norton got off her when the dormitory’s residential adviser knocked on the door. Bishop fled the room and went to the residential adviser’s room.
Bishop was taken by ambulance to Southern Maine Health Care, where she was diagnosed with a concussion.
In a statement Friday, Slattery, the York County DA, expressed satisfaction with the sentence and appreciation for the victim.
“I am pleased with the court’s sentence because it acknowledges the seriousness of the harm visited upon victims of domestic violence,” Slattery said. “I thank the victim for her courage in coming forward and assisting the prosecution. Her voice was heard at sentencing. My office will continue to prioritize prosecuting crimes of domestic violence.”
Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or at:
egotthelf@journaltribune.com
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