BELFAST — A Winterport man has been sentenced to eight years in prison with all but nine months suspended after reportedly attempting to intimidate his underage victim and family, according to court documents.

Robert Rosebush, 47, stood accused of sexually assaulting a juvenile victim who had not yet reached age 12 at the time of the June 2015 incident.

Initially interviewed by Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit Detective Scott Bryant in July 2015, Rosebush denied accusations of assaulting the juvenile. He was issued a summons for gross sexual assault on Oct. 30, 2015.

Rosebush entered an Alford plea to the charge of unlawful sexual touching in Waldo County Unified Court Dec. 20, meaning that without actually pleading guilty, he believed the state of Maine held enough evidence for a conviction. As a part of this plea a charge of gross sexual assault was dismissed.

For the crime of unlawful sexual touching Rosebush was sentenced to six months in jail. He was also barred from contacting his victim or the family, a stipulation broken by Rosebush in October of the same year, court documents said.

According to documents, Rosebush and his girlfriend each phoned the family of the victim to warn them not to proceed with the charges against him.

According to court documents, Rosebush contacted the family of his victim Oct. 30, 2015, to threaten them should they choose to continue pursuing charges.

Detective Bryant was able to match dates that he had spoken with Rosebush to days that the calls were placed to the victim’s family and he was charged with tampering with a victim as a result.

A warrant for Rosebush for the charge of tampering with a victim was requested Nov. 3, 2015.

Rosebush also entered an Alford plea for the charge of tampering with a witness, victim, juror, or victim. As a result of the Dec. 20 plea, Rosebush was sentenced to eight years in prison with all but nine months suspended, which will be followed by three years of probation.

Rosebush is also banned from having contact with female juveniles under age 18, and from any contact with his victim or family.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com