A 37-year-old Oak Harbor man was recently sent to prison for assaulting his wife while there was a court order barring him from contacting her.

On June 30, jury in Island County Superior Court found John Foster guilty of felony violation of a court order. The violation was considered a felony because it involved an assault.

Judge Alan Hancock sentenced Foster to a year and a month in prison and ordered him to pay $1,317 in fines and fees during a July 6 hearing.

In her victim impact statement, the 31-year-old victim wrote that the physical and emotional abuse had been going on for nine years. She asked the judge to give Foster the maximum sentence.

“With John away in jail, I can feel safer and I will be able to grow stronger without the fear of him hurting me,” she wrote.

Foster was facing a standard sentencing range of a year to 14 months in prison.

Sgt. Larry Ferguson with the Oak Harbor Police responded to the report of a domestic assault at the Queen Anne Motel April 26. A man in a neighboring room had dialed 911 after hearing a woman calling for help.

The woman said she went to the hotel room to get divorce papers from Foster, who became physically and verbally abusive, the report states. The woman claimed Foster prevented her from leaving, Ferguson wrote.

The officer found that a judge had issued a no-contact order against Foster, barring him from contacting his ex-wife. Foster violated the order by allowing her in the room and abusing her, the police report indicates.

Court documents state that Foster had previously been convicted in three different domestic violence cases, including a first-degree assault in 2003.

Also, he was convicted of third-degree assault in 2006 for kneeing an Oak Harbor police officer in the face.