A Massachusetts man charged with assaulting a former Maine state trooper made his initial appearance in Lincoln County District Court July 5.

William M. Harrison, 39, of Charleston, Mass., is charged with aggravated assault against Gregory Vrooman. Witnesses said Harrison attacked Vrooman in the Lincoln County Superior Courtroom April 12, while Vrooman was on trial for sex crimes against Harrison’s young relative.

The attack came just moments before the jury was scheduled to deliver a verdict. Harrison was taken into custody at the scene. When the jury reconvened the next day, they convicted Vrooman of multiple counts of unlawful sexual contact with Harrison’s relative.

Vrooman’s victim was 12 and 13 years old when the sex crimes occurred in 2009 and 2010. Last month, the Nobleboro man was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He also received four years’ probation. Vrooman remains free on bail pending appeal.

Harrison feels the sentence was too light and that Vrooman should have gone straight to prison following sentencing. During an interview outside the courthouse on July 5, he called the bail decision “terrible. That’s unbelievable to me.”

When he sentenced Vrooman late last month, Justice Jeffrey Hjelm said the courtroom attack caused him to “measurably reduce” the sentence. Without naming Harrison, Hjelm said Vrooman’s attacker “chose to exact their own version of justice and…thought that he was bigger than the justice system.”

When asked if he would still have assaulted Vrooman, had he known it would affect the sentence, Harrison paused for a moment. Then he said, considering Vrooman’s sentence and the fact that Vrooman is still free, “I wouldn’t take it back now.”

Harrison said he didn’t plan the April incident. But his relative, Vrooman’s victim, “was pretty upset that day” and when Harrison saw Vrooman in the courtroom “it just happened,” he said.

Vrooman received two black eyes and four facial fractures in the attack, according to his lawyer. At sentencing, Vrooman said the attack has left him with permanent injuries. Vrooman was taken to the hospital following the attack. He was not present when his verdicts were read due to his injuries.

Harrison was released on bail hours after his arrest. Prosecutors at his July 5 appearance did not object to the court continuing the $5,000 bail. District Court Judge Patrick Ende scheduled Harrison’s next appearance in Lincoln County Superior Court on Sept. 27 at 8:30 a.m.

Ende did not ask Harrison to enter a plea. The soonest Harrion’s case could be brought before a grand jury is mid-September.