ROCKPORT, Maine — A Rockport man who was released on bail last week on a sexual assault charge threatened to kill the prosecutor during a Monday court hearing on a new assault charge.
Tyrone Trask, 55, was arrested Friday morning and charged with aggravated assault and violating a condition of release after getting into a verbal argument with a man in regard to the alleged sexual assault that had occurred on Oct. 18, according to an affidavit filed by Rockport police. On Friday, the man slapped Trask in the face and Trask then punched the man in the face, knocking him down, according to the affidavit.
While the victim was on the ground, Trask, who was wearing steel-toed boots, kicked the man in the face and ribs, police reported. The victim suffered an injury to his jaw.
Trask made his initial appearance on that charge Monday afternoon in Knox County Unified Court. Assistant District Attorney Christopher Fernald asked that Trask be held without bail for violating bail.
As the prosecutor addressed the judge, the defendant kept interrupting him, saying Fernald was biased. Trask then said that Fernald had “one coming to him.”
When Judge Susan Sparaco ordered Trask held without bail, Trask erupted in anger and said he would kill the prosecutor. He also shouted out a string of obscenities as he was led out of the courtroom by jail guards.
In the Oct. 18 case, Trask was charged with unlawful sexual contact, assault and disorderly conduct.
The bail commissioner had originally set bail at $2,500 cash in that case while the district attorney’s office had filed a written request with the court to have Trask’s bail increased to $5,000 cash. At Trask’s initial appearance, however, Judge Joseph Field set bail at $1,000 unsecured. The district attorney’s office did not have a representative at that hearing because of a statewide prosecutorial conference.
The prosecution pointed out in its paperwork that Trask has a criminal record dating back to 1979. The convictions include a gross sexual misconduct from 1986, and more than a half dozen assaults including four against officers.