Following a two-day trial in Superior Court at the Lincoln County Courthouse, Brian Merryman, 39, of South Bristol was found not guilty Nov. 2 on 11 counts of assault, sexual misconduct with a child, sexual touching, and gross sexual assault.

Merryman was arrested in January on nine charges after Lincoln County sheriff’s detectives investigated allegations that he had sexually assaulted a child in Newcastle when the child was 12 and 13.

Merryman was convicted in 1996 of unlawful sexual contact, and later was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender, and having prohibited contact with a person under 14 years of age. Due to a court ruling, Merryman was removed from the Maine Sex Offender Registry in June 2015. He is no longer required to register.

During the trial, the alleged victim, the child’s parents, the defendant’s mother, and a friend of the defendant testified. Much of the testimony centered on the defendant’s medical condition that causes muscular atrophy; the defense raised questions about whether Merryman would have been physically able to perform the acts he was accused of.