AUGUSTA — A local lawyer has been publicly reprimanded by a disciplinary panel for his behavior toward an ex-girlfriend involving telephone and text messages.

Stephen J. Bourget, an Augusta lawyer, was censured by a grievance commission for the Board of Overseers of the Bar.

The complaint had been brought by another lawyer on behalf of a unnamed woman — described as Bourget’s “former dating partner” — who obtained a protection from abuse order against him, according to the panel’s finding.

The document says, “In retrospect, Attorney Bourget agrees and admits that his sexually explicit communications to (the woman) were indecent, degrading, vulgar and demeaning.” It says Bourget acknowledged that his communications with the woman violated bar rules governing “conduct unworthy of an attorney” and “conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

As a result of the complaint, Bourget acknowledged “personal behavioral problems” and obtained services from the Maine Assistance Program for Lawyers and Judges.

The program is administered by the state Office of Substance Abuse and offers aid for a number of problems, including depression, stress, substance abuse, and family and financial problems, according to its website.

Bourget also agreed to avoid contact with the woman even after the May 2011 expiration of the court’s protection order. That order is filed in Bangor District Court.

Bourget was admitted to the Bar in 1988, and the panel said this was the first disciplinary action that was taken against him.


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