Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Anthony Smart, accompanied by his attorney, Ryan Guptill, listens to Judge Jacalyn Colburn during his bail hearing Monday on felony sexual assault allegations that date back to August.

NASHUA – Last summer, when a young woman told her mother she had been sexually assaulted by a man known to them, the mother suggested she go to the hospital for a sexual assault examination.

The alleged victim did so, but she wanted to remain anonymous, according to police who would later investigate the assault allegations.

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, eight months would pass before the young woman brought the allegations to police. In less than 24 hours, the suspect – Anthony M. Smart, 31, of 29 Kinsley St. – was in police custody awaiting arraignment and a bail hearing on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault.

Jailed since his arrest on Saturday, Smart appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South, and was granted personal recognizance bail with strict orders from Judge Jacalyn Colburn to “have zero contact with” the alleged victim.

“Listen,” Colburn said, focusing on Smart. “No contact means no contact. You are to stay at least 300 feet away from her,” the judge said, her tone firm.

While she described the charges against Smart as “very serious … not to be taken lightly,” Colburn told the court she granted Smart personal recognizance bail because she believed prosecutors failed to provide “clear and convincing evidence” to back up their recommendation Smart be jailed on preventive detention.

In addition to emphasizing the order that Smart have no contact with the alleged victim, Colburn ordered he abide by a 7 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. curfew, and otherwise remain on good behavior.

According to police affidavits, the alleged victim contacted police around midday Saturday, telling them that in mid-August, she and Smart were “having consentual” sex, but “at one point she told him to stop.”

He allegedly refused to stop, according to the alleged victim, who told police she “tried to resist him physically,” but Smart allegedly “proceeded to punch her, grab her wrists and ankles and choke her multiple times,” the affidavits state.

Police said officers and detectives spoke throughout Saturday with relatives and other people close to the alleged victim, and eventually issued a warrant for Smart’s arrest.

They picked him up around 8 p.m., booked him at police headquarters, then transported him to Valley Street jail, pending arraignment.

The alleged victim was present for Monday’s proceedings, and asked to address the court.

Accompanied by a victims’ advocate, the young woman described Smart as “not someone you can trust … you give him an inch, he’ll take a mile,” she said, adding that “he has no conscience, basically.”

In referring to Saturday, the day she reported the allegations to police, what the alleged victim had to say puzzled many in the courtroom: The man she was about to file a rape complaint against was a passenger in her car as she drove to police headquarters.

While enroute, Smart allegedly said something along the lines of “what are you going to do, say I raped you?” the alleged victim told the court.

She was concerned Smart “would use my mental health against me,” the woman said, telling the court she has a history of depression and similar issues.

Colburn, at the conclusion of Smart’s bail hearing, scheduled a dispositional conference for 9 a.m. June 18 in the Nashua court.