WARREN, Maine — A resident of a Warren group home was sentenced Friday to eight months in jail for biting one staff member and striking another with a belt.
Katrina Park, 27, was sentenced in Knox County Unified Court to three years with all but eight months suspended for the assaults that occurred Oct. 11. She also will be on probation for two years upon her release.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Fernald said that while Park was found competent to face charges in court there were significant mental health issues that led the state to reduce the violations from aggravated assault to assault. She will be required to take her medications as part of her probation.
The assaults were still elevated to felony level because of two prior assault convictions. Park has been held in jail since the incident.
One staff member at Pine Grove, a residential facility for adults with mental health issues, was bit on the hand and suffered nerve damage, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The other suffered bruises from being struck by the belt.
Park assaulted the two women when they refused to drive her to Camden to see her boyfriend, according to the police report filed in the case.
Police noted the owner of the facility contacted the department and was upset the resident had been charged, saying he did not believe residents of the facility should be criminally charged because of their mental health conditions.