WAILUKU » A former Maui police sergeant has been sentenced to a one-year jail term for molesting a teenage girl.

Paul Bailey was sentenced Wednesday. He had been charged with third-degree sexual assault but pleaded no contest to second-degree assault in a deal with prosecutors.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rivera says Bailey was driving the then-16-year-old girl home last year when he began groping her and forced her to touch him sexually.

The Maui News reports 2nd Circuit Judge Richard Bissen told Bailey he doesn’t dispute supportive letters written on his behalf but he also believes the victim’s claims.

Defense attorney Ben Summit says his client served in the Marine Corps and was an 18-year veteran of the Maui Police Department.

Bailey maintains the accusations are false.