A Superior Court jury quickly convicted a 46-year-old Noank man this week of breaking into a home in Stonington two years ago and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in her bedroom.

It is the second child molesting conviction for Keith "Eric" Andersen, who faces up to 55 years in prison when Judge Matthew E. Frechette sentences him on January 28 for two counts of risk of injury to a minor, fourth-degree sexual assault and second-degree burglary. The judge raised Andersen’s bond to $1 million following the verdict, and he is being held at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution.

At this week’s trial, prosecutor Sarah E. Steere called on the victim, who is now 12, to testify. On the witness stand, the girl described how she woke up to find "Eric," a friend of her father, reaching under her shorts on July 3, 2007. The victim said she knew it was Andersen "by the look on his face," according to Steere.  The girl resisted, and Andersen left after saying the girl’s father had asked him to check on her.

The girl, who lived with her father in a trailer home, was at home alone when Andersen broke a window screen and reached through to unlock a side door. Andersen had been at the home earlier, drinking with the victim’s father.

The father, who had just started a new night shift job at Foxwoods Resort Casino, waited two days to report the incident because he was afraid he would get in trouble for leaving his daughter home alone.

"He testified that he didn’t want this happening to the victim again or didn’t want (Andersen) to hurt anyone else," Steere said.

 The father was, in fact arrested, and given a suspended prison sentence.

Stonington police detective Joseph Coco and patrolman John Fiore also testified for the state along with Tim Donohue from the Department of Children and Families.

Andersen, who claimed he had been drinking heavily that night and could not remember the events, did not testify on his own behalf.  The jury reached its guilty verdicts on Wednesday after about 25 minutes of deliberation. Steere declined to comment, but is expected to speak at the sentencing. Defense attorney T.J. Morelli-Wolfe, who represented Andersen, could not immediately be reached for comment.

As a repeat sex offender, Andersen will be required to register with the Department of Public Safety for the rest of his life.  Andersen served six months in prison and five years probation for a 1991 conviction in Virginia involving an 11-year-old. 

In recent years, Andersen has lived on Sylvan Street in Noank, served as a volunteer firefighter and worked at the local polling place on election day. He worked in construction.