PORTLAND, Maine — A South Portland man facing multiple counts of gross sexual assault, sex trafficking and promotion of prostitution appeared in Portland Superior Court on Tuesday hoping to have his bail reduced, but he instead saw it more than doubled to $20,000.
Jon Cianchette, 57, was arrested at his home on March 11 and charged with Class B felony aggravated promotion of prostitution and gross sexual assault, two counts of misdemeanor sex trafficking and one count of misdemeanor promotion of prostitution.
Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Meg Elam said Tuesday that Cianchette is charged with “five counts of sex trafficking involving five different victims, all living or working as prostitutes out of Mr. Cianchette’s residence with his knowledge.”
More recently, investigators learned of a sixth alleged victim who was allegedly contacted by another victim and asked to testify on Cianchette’s behalf.
Instead, “the victim was so incensed that she left me a voicemail message and then spoke to police telling them what Mr. Cianchette did, including providing illegal drugs, sexually assaulting her, and taking advantage of the fact that she was trying to reunify with her child by saying, ‘A good mother would do whatever it took to get her child back,’” Elam said.
Elam said evidence on Cianchette’s phone and computer indicated he photographed the women, ages 25 to 43, to be advertised on backpage.com or made his home available for “dates.”
Bail was originally set at $7,500, which Elam said Tuesday she only agreed to on the condition that Maine Pretrial Services would supervise his release.
Elam said that while Cianchette’s bail conditions prohibited contact with any of the women, she had heard phone conversations in which he spoke to one of them, “enlisting her, one of his victims, to raise money to get him out of jail.”
Cianchette’s attorney, Clifford Strike, told Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz that Maine Pretrial Services refused to work with Cianchette. He didn’t offer a reason.
Strike argued that Cianchette has “significant family connections to the state,” has lived in Maine most of his life and in South Portland for the last 15 years, and has no criminal convictions for more than 20 years.
Cianchette has “significant” medical problems, has not been receiving his prescription medication regularly at Cumberland County Jail, and as a result suffered “some type of heart incident,” was treated at Maine Medical Center and has been in the jail’s medical unit since then, according to Strike.
In setting Cianchette’s bail at $20,000, Moskowitz said that while he has not fled previously, “he certainly has every incentive to flee now. If convicted, he can essentially count on going to jail for an awfully long time.”
Strike did not immediately return a phone call for comment on Tuesday.