A Newbury man faces a heavy fine for derailing a recent sexual assault trial by researching the defendant online and allegedly telling fellow jurors the man was already a convicted sex offender.

Jurors had not been told that part of Timothy Townsend's past during his trial for child sexual assault, because doing so would have violated the court's rules of evidence. And Judge Diane Nicolosi told the Merrimack County Superior Court jurors not to read accounts of the case or to research Townsend, of Laconia, or other facts on their own.

Paul Christiansen said yesterday that he ignored Nicolosi's order and disclosed Townsend's past conviction during the second day of jury deliberations because he thought jurors deserved to know.

The consequences were serious - for the alleged 9-year-old victim at the center of the trial and for Christiansen.

Nicolosi declared a mistrial after learning Christiansen had "tainted" the jury pool, meaning the girl will have to testify again if county prosecutors retry Townsend. It's something they are seriously considering, they said yesterday. And Christiansen is charged with contempt of court; if convicted, he could be ordered to reimburse the court for the cost of holding the three-day trial.

Court Clerk Bill McGraw hadn't tallied that figure yesterday but said it would include the stipend and mileage paid to jurors for their service as well as the court's time.

After his arraignment yesterday, Christiansen said he's sorry the alleged victim may have to take the stand again. And he's unhappy Townsend is free while prosecutors decide whether to bring the case to a second jury.

But Christiansen said he doesn't regret his decision to tell jurors Townsend had sexually assaulted a child before. According to the state's sex offender registry, Townsend was convicted in 1996 of felonious sexual assault on a child between 13 and 16 years old. The recent case against him involved the same charge against a girl who was 6 at the time of the alleged assault.

"If it's someone's third offense for driving while intoxicated, shouldn't you know?" Christiansen said outside the courthouse yesterday. "If it's a fourth theft charge, shouldn't you know? Everybody should (be concerned) that jurors are not told everything."

There have been national stories of jurors jeopardizing cases by conducting their own investigations during trial, but McGraw said it's not been a frequent problem in Merrimack County. He said the last case he recalled was at least a decade old.

"I've found jurors are very conscious and cognizant of what they are told to do," McGraw said. "What they can't consider - they take that very seriously."

George Waldron, the deputy Merrimack County attorney, asked the court shortly after the trial to find Christiansen in contempt of court. Yesterday, Nicolosi arraigned Christiansen on that charge - but it took her two tries.

The first time, Christiansen refused to take his seat in the courtroom because he was unwilling to recognize the court's authority. Nicolosi ordered Christiansen be taken to a holding cell in the court's basement until early afternoon when he was given a second chance for arraignment.

Christiansen was more cooperative that time but still struggled a bit with bailiffs before taking his seat. He was accompanied in court by his father, Carl Christiansen, and his uncle, state Rep. Lars Christiansen, a Republican from Hudson. Both men discouraged Christiansen from participating in the court proceeding because, they said, they too don't recognize the court's authority.

Afterward, both men defended Christiansen and said he was only doing his civic duty by revealing Townsend's past.