Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

August 31, 2012

Local and State Dispatches

From staff and news services

PORTLAND

Abbie gets free hotel suite to go with Bieber tickets

Good things keep happening for Abbie Jacobson.

Abbie is the 8-year-old girl from Scarborough who found a purse containing more than $4,000 outside the local Sam's Club, and instead of keeping the cash, tracked down the rightful owner. She didn't ask for recognition or reward, but she got both.

Bank of Maine officials, who secured five tickets for Abbie and her family to the sold-out Justin Bieber concert in Boston on Nov. 10, now say they've secured a hotel suite for them to spend the night in Boston following the concert.

Renee Smyth, senior vice president at the Bank of Maine, said in an email that the Marriott Residence Inn on Tudor Wharf in Boston donated the suite.

On Wednesday, Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz shared Abbie's story with the world.

The story, carried on the front page, so moved John Everets, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Bank of Maine, that he directed his staff to obtain the Bieber tickets for Abbie.

ALFRED

Lawyer to ask for dismissal of prostitution-related case

The lawyer for the Thomaston man who is accused of promoting prostitution in Kennebunk will get to argue before a judge that the case should be dismissed.

A hearing in the case of Mark Strong Sr. has been scheduled for Sept. 14 in York County Superior Court.

Strong, a 56-year-old insurance agent and private investigator, was charged last month with promotion of prostitution, a misdemeanor.

In his motion to dismiss, Daniel Lilley, Strong's lawyer, said he should have received documents and other evidence from prosecutors by Aug. 10 but has not. Lilley has also questioned how his client could be charged with promotion of prostitution when no one has been charged with prostitution.

According to a police affidavit, their investigation uncovered links between Strong and Alexis Wright through postal, telephone and bank records.

A search of Wright's Zumba business locations in Kennebunk and her home in Wells turned up videotape of Wright having sex with men and meticulous client records, according to the document.

The affidavit says Wright sent video footage to Strong and asked him to run license plate numbers. Wright has not been charged with any offense.

ISLAND FALLS

State allows couple to keep pet wallaby with conditions

There will be a happy ending for a couple who brought home a pet wallaby, a kangaroo-like animal that's native to Australia.

Michelle Charette and Jay Batchelder of Island Falls said they've been granted a state permit with a handful of conditions. The Bangor Daily news said those conditions include getting it vaccinated this month and neutered when he's older.

There was no known rabies vaccine for a wallaby in Maine when the animal was purchased from a breeder in New Jersey. But the couple found a veterinarian in Caribou who happens to be from Australia and who's willing to administer it.

For now the wallaby is restricted to the property, for which the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department specified a 6-foot-tall fence.

GRAY

Teen charged in sex assault of autistic female relative, 8

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old female family member who has autism and fetal alcohol syndrome, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The boy was living at the victim's home in Gray when the assault happened at 6 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

The boy has been charged with gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact. He is being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland pending further investigation and court proceedings.

(Continued on page 2)

Tweet