APPLETON, Maine — A seven-month jail sentence imposed this week for a man convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls has sparked outrage among several local residents, who have formed a group seeking tougher penalties for offenders.
Anthony Collins of Appleton and Richelle Gagne of Searsmont have formed a group called Maine Youth Protection Alliance. The group formed Wednesday, a day after the sentencing of 53-year-old Mark Cayouette of Rockport in Knox County Superior Court. The pair created a Facebook page that has garnered 279 members as of Friday morning.
“The citizens of Waldo and Knox County are infuriated,” Gagne said Thursday. She is the wife of Camden police Chief Randy Gagne.
Collins and Gagne have contacted local legislators and the Maine attorney general’s office, asking them to put forward legislation that would impose mandatory minimum prison sentences for people convicted of sexually assaulting children.
Cayouette pleaded guilty last month to two counts of unlawful sexual contact. The sentence agreement reached between the district attorney’s office and the defense called for a five-year sentence with all but nine months suspended. That nine months was a cap in which the defense could argue for less time at the sentencing hearing.
On Tuesday, the prosecutor announced the two parties had reached an agreement on the amount of time to be served, reducing it to seven months. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody said the sentence was approved because it was comparable to similar cases and because Cayouette accepted immediate responsibility, had no criminal record and had undergone extensive counseling.
The sentence also calls for Cayouette to be on probation for 12 years and be on the state’s sex offender registry list for the rest of his life.
Cayouette was arrested July 19 and released on bail after the offenses were reported to police. According to police reports filed in court at the time, Cayouette admitted he had been tickling the two girls — 9 and 11 years old at the time — and that it had gotten out of hand and he put his hands under their underwear and touched their private parts. He also said it had occurred six or seven times earlier, and he did it for sexual pleasure. The BDN is not identifying the girls because they are victims, but they were not strangers to Cayouette.
Collins, the parent of a 3-year-old daughter, said he was appalled when he read about the sentence. He pointed out this was the same sentence as a teenager convicted this week of setting fire to portable toilets.
“When I found out how much time he (Cayouette) was getting, I couldn’t believe it. Justice was not being served,” Collins said.
He said he has had friends confide in him over the years of having been abused as children, and he knows the impact it has had on them.
Camden police Chief Randy Gagne praised the effort of the group, saying they had done a lot in just two days. He said he hopes that one thing that comes out of the effort is better services for victims of crimes.
Collins and Gagne said they would like a law patterned after Jessica’s Law, in which there are mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of sexually assaulting children. That law was passed in 2005 in Florida in response to the abduction, assault and murder of a girl named Jessica Lunsford. The law imposed a 25-year minimum sentence for first-time child sex offenders. In the case of Lunsford, the man who murdered her had a prior record for sexually assaulting children.
Other states including California have passed similar laws, which include a requirement that offenders wear global positioning satellite devices upon their release.
Sen. David Miramant, D-Camden, said Friday he has been contacted by one of the group’s members. Miramant said he will be contacting Maine Attorney General Janet Mills to get more information on the issue of sentencing of people convicted of sexually assaulting children.
“I will happily support any kind of change to see that justice is done,” he said.