BELFAST, Maine — A Waldo County man with a long history of violent sexual crimes will spend more time behind bars after being sentenced earlier this month to a charge of unlawful sexual contact against an 11-year-old girl.
Glenn Reed, 68, had been scheduled to go to trial on March 1, but at the last minute he pleaded nolo contendere, or no contest, to the charge at Waldo County Superior Court. A previous trial, held last August, was declared a mistrial by Superior Court Justice Robert Murray after a witness told jurors Reed was a registered sex offender. This month, Murray sentenced Reed to eight years to the Maine Department of Corrections with all but one year suspended, and also ordered him to spend three years on probation.
The victim, who now is in her teens, told the BDN on Tuesday that she is relieved that the trial and sentencing is finally over.
“I wish it was longer, but there’s nothing I can do about that. The fact that he’s getting something and not nothing is a lot better [than it could be],” she said in a phone interview. “I’m doing a lot better now. I don’t have as many nightmares.”
The incident that led to Reed’s arrest and conviction happened during the summer of 2011, when the girl was 11. However, the crime didn’t come to light until the spring of 2014, when the girl wrote a school essay about being sexually assaulted. Police investigating the matter spoke to the teen, who told an officer that Reed had been providing her and other friends that summer with pills and marijuana. One night after a party at a camper in the town of Waldo, the girl told the investigating officer that Reed had given her a marijuana joint to smoke and that after that he began to grope and assault her.
When police first talked to Reed, he offered to take a polygraph test, but on the day it was scheduled, he said he believed he was having a heart attack and needed to see a doctor. He also told police he had dementia and did not recall knowing the victim.
Reed’s record of convictions for violent sexual crimes stretches back more than 30 years, to a 1983 conviction for raping a teenage hitchhiker he had picked up in Lincolnville. He served time in prison for that offense.
In 2013, he was convicted of unlawful sexual touching, assault and disorderly conduct after going up to a 27-year-old store clerk in Belfast and telling her he needed a hug. Reed then assaulted her by fondling her buttocks and grabbing at her breasts.
Reed’s sentence on this most recent conviction has been stayed until April 1. After he is released, his probation conditions include having no contact with the victim or any female children under 18; completing counseling and treatment for substance abuse and being a sexual offender; and not owning, possessing or using any firearm or dangerous weapon.
To reach a sexual assault advocate, call the Statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 800-871-7741, TTY 888-458-5599. This free and confidential 24-hour service is accessible from anywhere in Maine. Calls are automatically routed to the closest sexual violence service provider.