AUGUSTA — A Brunswick man is charged with gross sexual assault on a girl when she was 13 and 14 years old in the period of May 2015 to April 2016 and with sexual exploitation of a minor for allegedly recording some of those acts between May 2015 and April 2017, all in West Gardiner.
Zachary Grant, 21, was in front of a judge Wednesday via video from the Kennebec County jail to hear the charges.
Justice William Stokes set bail at $10,000, the amount requested by the state, with conditions that Grant have no contact with children under 16.
Stokes told Grant the maximum penalty for a class A gross sexual assault conviction is 30 years in prison, a $50,000 fine and four years of probation. A conviction on the class B charge of sexual exploitation carries a maximum 10-year prison term.
Stokes also said he would not ask Grant for a plea because the felony charges must go through the grand jury process.
Lisa Whittier, as lawyer of the day, asked that the judge allow the bail to be reviewed later, and he agreed.
An affidavit filed at the Capital Judicial Center by Maine State Police Detective Scott Quintero said the investigation began in October 2016 when police learned the girl named as the victim in the charges had delivered a child that had been conceived when she was 13.
The girl told police the father was 17, was not Grant, and either had left the area or was in jail. The boy, whose identity was determined via DNA testing, was located at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.
Quintero said the girl told him they sometimes exchanged naked photos of themselves, some of which were still on her cellphone, and a video. Quintero also said the girl told a state worker doing a home visit that Grant, who was there at the time and bought the baby diapers and other things, was not the father.
Quintero said he interviewed Grant in December 2016 and in April 2017 in Brunswick, which provided him with the information needed to move forward with an arrest. Grant was arrested Tuesday on the charges and taken to the Kennebec County jail.
His next court appearance is set for July 18.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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