BELFAST, Maine — A former automotive technology instructor at the Waldo County Technical Center pleaded guilty Tuesday to gross sexual assault against a student from RSU 20.
Michael Gagnon, 47, of Winslow was given a deferred disposition at his hearing at Waldo County Superior Court. If he stays out of trouble for the next year, the gross sexual abuse charges will be dismissed and instead he will be sentenced on two lesser charges of Class D assault.
If he does not stay out of trouble, he will be sentenced on the two counts of Class C gross sexual assault, charges that could bring him a prison term of up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000.
According to the court, Gagnon is prohibited from having contact with the teenaged victim, who is no longer a student in RSU 20, which serves the communities of Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport, Searsmont, Searsport, Stockton Springs and Swanville. He also is prohibited from having contact with any girl younger than 18, unless her parents are present.
Waldo County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said Wednesday that the state agreed to the deferred disposition because a judge had decided to exclude from the case statements that Gagnon made to police in April.
“We would have had to rely exclusively on the victim, and she had made it very clear throughout the investigation how unwilling she was” to cooperate with prosecutors, Rushlau said. “She tried to recant the accusation.”
The district attorney said he would have preferred if Gagnon had been prosecuted on the sexual assault charges.
“It’s a compromise, and compromises can be very hard to swallow,” Rushlau said.
But defense attorney Walt McKee of Augusta had a different view of the outcome.
“The resolution of the case was fair in light of all the circumstances,” he said.
Gagnon was arrested in April after a school official contacted the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office to investigate rumors that the teacher was involved in a sexual relationship with one of his students. According to an affidavit in support of his arrest, although Gagnon at first denied to investigators that he had done anything wrong, he later admitted to being involved in a physical relationship with the 17-year-old student.
Additionally, Gagnon and the victim went to Bangor and spent the night together at a hotel, according to documents filed in Waldo County Superior Court. He was charged with gross sexual assault in Penobscot County, too, but that charge was transferred to Waldo County where it became part of the Waldo County case.
After his arrest, Gagnon was suspended from the Waldo County Technical Center and then resigned his position. He also was suspended from Mount View High School in Thorndike, where he had coached softball for more than a decade.
To reach a sexual assault advocate, call the Statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 800-871-7741, TTY 888-458-5599. This free and confidential 24-hour service is accessible from anywhere in Maine. Calls are automatically routed to the closest sexual violence service provider.