CAMDEN, Maine — A 64-year-old Camden man accused of harassing a family via Facebook postings pleaded not guilty Monday to charges filed in connection with the case.
Charles F. Berry entered his pleas in Knox County Unified Court to harassment by telephone or electronic device and disorderly conduct.
Berry requested a court-appointed attorney after Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody said the office would be requesting jail time if the defendant is convicted.
He is next scheduled for a court appearance on July 31.
Berry was arrested April 8 by Camden police and released on $260 cash bail. Bail conditions include that he not directly or indirectly contact the victims on social media. He also was prohibited from consuming alcohol.
On April 22, he filed a motion to have the alcohol prohibition eliminated, saying it was completely irrelevant to the case. A judge rejected that request.
Berry, who also posts on Facebook under the name Bishop Whitecrow, had been harassing the family for more than three years, according to an affidavit filed in court by Camden police.
The hundreds of comments over the years have been extremely vulgar and obscene, according to police. Camden police Detective Curt Andrick previously said there is a First Amendment right to say things even if they are vulgar and obscene, but that he believes the actions by Berry have gone over the line into criminal conduct.
It isn’t clear from the affidavit why Berry is targeting the family.
Among his posts, Berry reportedly stated that if the government shuts him out of the Internet he would take to the road and use his CB to continue broadcasting his comments. He also made disparaging comments about earlier attempts by police to silence him. Berry was charged with harassment in 2012 but that case was dismissed when the district attorney’s office declined to prosecute because Berry had not specified who he was attacking in his posts, according to police.
But Andrick was able to obtain an arrest warrant for Berry this time around based on a photograph of the family that Berry posted with his most recent comments.