A man arrested last year for giving tattoos to two 14-year-old girls in a Scarborough motel has pleaded guilty to a host of related charges, netting him a two-year prison sentence and the lifelong requirement to register as a sex offender.

According to the Scarborough Police Department, on March 28, 2013, it executed a search warrant at a room in The Downeaster Motel, located at 184 U.S. Route 1. The warrant was obtained after two 14-year-old girls from Westbrook reported receiving tattoos from Joshua Grant, then 35, who was a resident of the motel at the time.

In Maine, it is illegal for a person to tattoo a minor. Tattoo artists also must also be licensed through the Department of Health and Human Services. Grant was not licensed to give tattoos and was initially charged with tattooing a minor, and tattooing without a license, although he was actually picked up on a warrant for a probation violation.

Grant was on federal probation at the time, having been convicted in 2009 in U.S. District Court in Bangor of possessing stolen firearms, for which he received 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

As a result of the investigation, Grant also was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful sexual contact, and assault. One girl reportedly was tattooed on her buttocks, the other on her inner thigh. Scarborough police said they were first advised of the incident by a guidance councilor at Westbrook Middle School.

Grant was indicted by a Cumberland County grand jury on July 5 on 19 counts that included furnishing illegal drugs, endangering the welfare of a child, furnishing liquor to a minor and possession of sexually explicit materials.

At the time, Scarborough Police Detective Don Blatchford said the drug in question was marijuana, while the sexually explicit materials were photos on Grant’s cell phone.

“The bottom line is, this is a guy who I think was looking to more than tattoo a couple of young girls, and used that as his foot in the door,” said Blatchford, in July.

According to a posting on the Scarborough P.D. Facebook page, Grant pleaded guilty Friday in Cumberland County Unified Court to unlawful sexual contact as well as two counts, each, of aggravated unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs, placing a tattoo on a person under age 18, placing a tattoo on a person without a license and possession of sexually explicit materials.

He was sentenced to five years in prison with all but three years suspended, and two years of probation. In addition, Grant will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Joshua Grant