AUGUSTA, Maine — A former Maine prison guard has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for inappropriately touching a young girl.
Travis Lyon was ordered Thursday in Kennebec County Superior Court to serve eight years of a 10-year sentence and 16 years' probation following his conviction in October on three counts of unlawful sexual contact.
Prosecutors say the 38-year-old Lyon touched the girl a number of times starting when she was 11, from March 2011 until August 2013.
The victim said in an impact statement read by the prosecutor that said she was affected emotionally, physically and psychologically by the abuse and used to blame herself.
The Kennebec Journal reports that Lyon's lawyer sought a lighter sentence, saying he had no prior record and has a high likelihood of being rehabilitated.