BANGOR, Maine — A Nebraska man was indicted Wednesday by the Penobscot County grand jury on two counts of gross sexual assault for acts that allegedly occurred in 1990.
The victim, now 30, reported the abuse by a male relative to police in 1994.
Clarence Cote, 63, of Nemaha, Neb., left the state when he learned he was being investigated, Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said Wednesday.
The victim, who was 8 when she was sexually assaulted by Cote, still wants her abuser to be charged, Almy said. The girl was living in the Lincoln area in 1990, the prosecutor said.
The young age of the victim and the fact that Cote fled the state exempts the alleged crime from Maine’s six-year statute of limitations.
State law says if the victim is under 16 years of age and the offender is older than 16, there is no time limit for bringing charges in cases of sexual assault or for unlawful sexual contact. Even if the age limit did not apply, the statute of limitations is placed on hold while a suspect or a defendant is out of state and cannot be located by authorities.
Almy said Wednesday he did not know how local authorities learned Cote was living in Nebraska.
Cote’s arraignment date has not been set and he has not been arrested.
If convicted, Cote faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $50,000.
Glad they caught the creep!
You can run, but you can’t hide. Eventually, the evil that men (and women) do will catch up to them.
I agree that he should be charged, but I am curious. Isn’t there a Statute of Limitations of everything except murder? Maybe it changed for sexual abuse of a minor?
Good question. I thought the same as you. I know this guy and I have to say that I’m not surprised.
The legal theory that would allow him to be prosecuted is that the clock on that Statute of Limitations stopped when he left the state. That is how the priests that molested children in Massachusetts for years, then fled to other states were sucsessfully prosecuted. So the Statute of Limitations would not run out in that case.
Even if the statute of limitations have run out by all means but him on the wall of shame and put him on the sex offender registry – he did once and he will do it again!
I know someone that was raped by a 18 year old while she was 13 wish she would have the slime arrested
Once a pervert, always a pervert. Book him Danno.
There should be a new article that says the Nebraska man is in jail awaiting extradition back to Maine to face what he has done after 22 years of running!