ROCKLAND, Maine — A judge rejected a plea agreement Friday afternoon that would have had a 23-year-old Camden man serve 18 months in prison for breaking into two homes and sexually assaulting a woman at one of the residences.
In the end, Judge Susan Sparaco accepted an agreement that doubled the time Eli Z. Kemberling will spend behind bars.
Sparaco rejected the original plea proposal after the husband of the sexually assaulted woman spoke in court. A letter from the victim in the other home burglary also was submitted to the court. Sparaco said the 18 months proposed in the original agreement, reached between the defense attorney and the district attorney’s office, did not take into account the severity of the offenses.
Attorney Eric “Rick” Morse, who represents Kemberling, urged the judge to accept the original agreement, saying his client suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses that included depression and anxiety. Morse said Kemberling also may suffer from bipolar disorder and already is a changed person, having received the proper medication while in jail for the past nine months.
Morse contended that the overall proposed sentence of six years with all but 18 months suspended was reasonable. He said the true sentence was six years in the event his client violated his probation upon release. The deal called for three years of probation following Kemberling’s release from prison.
Kemberling was arrested in November after being accused of breaking into a Rockport home to steal liquor. Police reported that he went upstairs, wearing a mask over his face and carrying a large knife, and fondled a woman sleeping in her bed. The woman awoke and screamed, and her husband caught Kemberling as he was trying to flee the house and held him until police arrived, according to court documents.
While in jail, Kemberling was charged with a break-in that happened at a Camden home about three months before the Rockport incident. The formal charges filed against him in connection with both home invasions were two counts of burglary and one count of unlawful sexual contact.
The husband of the Rockport woman told the judge Friday that Kemberling’s actions traumatized his entire family. He said his young children no longer feel safe in their home, and when he is out late he has someone else come over and stay with his family.
He said his children have had nightmares about what happened.
After Sparaco said she would not accept the originally proposed 18-month sentence, Morse asked for some time to talk with Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody about revising the agreement. Morse also asked whether the parties could speak with the judge in her office, but she refused the private meeting, saying the public had considerable interest in this case and she wanted discussions done publicly.
In the end, Sparaco approved a sentence of six years with all but three years suspended to be followed by three years of probation. While on probation, Kemberling will be required to stay home from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. and take his medication.
Sparaco said the sentence would offer some comfort to the victims, knowing they would not be running into Kemberling at the store or in the neighborhood for some time.
“You have the right to feel safe in your home and in your community,” Sparaco said. “It’s unfortunate that random things like this happen to good people.”
Kemberling apologized for his actions during the hearing, saying it was not premeditated and that not a day goes by he doesn’t wish he could take it back.