The jury found that, over several days out at sea during a commercial fishing trip in July 2010, Cusick forcibly assaulted, sexually harassed, impeded, interfered with, and intimidated a female federal at-sea monitor who was working on the vessel Sea Farmer II out of Gloucester.

The woman was monitoring and collecting data while the vessel was engaged in a fishing trip. The NOAA fisheries observer program, launched in 2010, installs federally-assigned monitors to keep tabs on fishermen's compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, notably under its new catch share management program.

The program has often sparked friction and drawn fire from New England fishermen, who last year cited examples of poorly prepared or ill-trained monitors tinkering with and damaging some boats' electronic navigational and safety equipment.

Read the complete article from The Gloucester Times