HOUGHTON - A Hancock man was sentenced to nine months of jail in Houghton County Circuit Court Monday for sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend last year.
Matthew Norton, 25, will also serve five years of probation and must register as a sex offender.
A jury convicted Norton of the fourth-degree CSC charge, a two-year charge, in a trial last month. Norton was acquitted of three other charges, including first-degree CSC, a felony punishable by life.
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Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
Matthew Norton listens to his sentencing Monday in Houghton?County Circuit Court.
Norton apologized to the victim and the court. He also thanked his adopted parents, and said he wanted to go back home and take care of them as they had him.
"I have no desire to be here, whether incarcerated or not," he said. "My only wish is to go home and start mending those broken bridges in my family and carry on with my life, and get back to the person I know I am inside. I'm not a monster, I'm not a bad person. I have made bad choices, and they have reaped bad consequences."
Prosecuting Attorney Michael Makinen urged for the maximum probation available.
"Mr. Norton's fortunate he's here at the level he is," he said. "This was a very ugly incident, and it could have gotten a lot uglier."
Norton's attorney, David Gemignani, argued for Norton to be released with time served so he could move to Alabama for his probation. Norton's parents, both of whom are disabled and have retired, traveled to Houghton for Monday's sentencing.
"I see where the recommendation is, and I think it's a fair recommendation," Gemignani said. "But I'd still ask the court that since his ride is here, to consider time served so he can move on with his life, he can move away from the victim, he can leave this community, he can go back to his home community, he can work in his local community, he can take care of his parents," he said.
Norton received credit for 198 days served.