BRUNSWICK, Maine — A former Brunswick school custodian who pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual touching of a minor will serve no jail time if he undergoes sex offender treatment to accept responsibility for the crime and abides by other conditions of a deferred disposition.
Earl Ater, 60, who until August was employed as an evening custodian at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, pleaded guilty on Thursday to unlawful sexual touching of a minor earlier this year.
Brunswick police released little information at the time of Ater’s arrest, but said the crime did not take place at a Brunswick school and the victim was not a student in the Brunswick schools.
According to the terms of a deferred disposition agreement signed by Cumberland County Superior Court Chief Justice Roland A. Cole, Ater will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in one year if he abides by conditions including attending counseling by a sex offender treatment specialist and reporting to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Coordinator of Diversion and Rehabilitative Programs.
A licensed clinical social worker evaluated Ater and recommended the counseling to “focus on improving acceptance of responsibility for the crime, and understanding and identifying cognitive distortions,” according to court records.
Ater’s attorney, Michael Turndorf, said Friday he is confident Ater will abide by the conditions.
A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2017.
Following the accusation, Ater was placed on paid leave. He resigned from the school department on Aug. 31, Brunswick Superintendent Paul Perzanoski said.
In May, Turndorf entered a not guilty plea on Ater’s behalf, and in July was granted a continuance in order to allow Ater to be evaluated, according to court documents.
Assistant District Attorney Amanda Doherty, who prosecuted the case, declined to comment on Monday.