AUGUSTA — A former captain with the Augusta Fire Department pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he sexually abused a young girl over a four-year period that ended in April 2010.

Robert G. MacMaster, 39, was arraigned in Kennebec County Superior Court on the indictment that charges him with four counts of sex abuse of a minor and one count of gross sexual assault.

All the charges name the same victim, who allegedly was between 14 and 15 years old in the four charges of sexual abuse of a minor; and younger than 18 when the gross sexual assault allegedly occurred. The charges allege the offenses occurred in Augusta and Manchester.

MacMaster is free on $2,000 cash bail and conditions ban him from unsupervised contact with children younger than 16 except for his own children.

Sean Farris, the attorney representing MacMaster, waived reading of the complaint.

“We have reviewed all of the counts,” Farris said. “He understands the maximum penalties, and he understands the charges against him.”

MacMaster’s court appearance was brief, and his next hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. April 5.

In the meantime, MacMaster faces the almost certain loss of unemployment benefits he received after resigning from his job at the fire department on July 10, 2009. He had been placed on administrative leave earlier that month and later pleaded guilty to stealing $3,565 from the Augusta Uniformed Firefighters Association between Jan. 1, 2009, and June 30, 2009, when he was president of that union.

MacMaster was awarded unemployment benefits in 2-1 decision by the Unemployment Insurance Commission, which found that MacMaster “did not engage in a destruction or theft of things valuable to the employer or another employee” because the money he took was from the union members.

The city, through attorney Stephen Langsdorf, appealed that decision to a judge in Kennebec County Superior Court, saying MacMaster’s theft was directly related to his job.

However, that appeal probably will not go forward.

On Wednesday Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Wyman, who represents the commission, said she intended to ask the court to send it back to the commission since one of the commissioners, Edward Kelleher, told her he had intended to vote to deny MacMaster unemployment benefits.

“He did not realize the decision had gone out the way it had gone out,” Wyman said. Kelleher and P. Vincent O’Malley signed the decision indicating that MacMaster should be allowed benefits.

Commission Chairman Anthony J. Peverada Jr. dissented, saying, “I would credit the employer’s testimony that the claimant posed a risk to the department as well as the public. Further, I would find that the claimant’s conduct with respect to the union dues was directly related to his employment.”

Langsdorf said he supports sending the case back to the commission.

“We will agree to the stipulation so the commission can reverse its position,” Langsdorf said. “It will save the city of Augusta a considerable amount of money and time, and I suspect that’s what the superior court would have done with this case anyway.”

City Manager William Bridgeo said Tuesday that the city had reimbursed the state approximately $8,600 for unemployment benefits MacMaster received between February and September 2010.

If the commission rules against MacMaster, then the state would seek to have MacMaster return the money he has already received, Wyman said.

Copy the Story Link