AUGUSTA — A city woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawful sexual contact with a girl, and the prosecutor said it was done at the behest of an imprisoned convicted sex offender from Kansas.
Amy M. Whitney, 37, was sentenced to five years in jail with all but nine months suspended and two years of probation. Conditions of probation require her to continue counseling and prohibit her from contact with children under 16 as well as with Shawn Pearl, 39, of Leavenworth, Kan.
Whitney’s attorney, Stephen Bourget, said Whitney started counseling in January 2013 and has attended more than 50 sessions.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Kristin Murray-James, said Augusta Police Detective Tori Tracy learned the victim, aged 12 and 13 at the time of the offense, was being subjected to unlawful sexual contact by Whitney which had been started by Pearl.
“He would speak both to the defendant and the victim and had plans to further the sexual relationship once he was out of prison,” Murray-James said.
In exchange for Whitney’s plea, two counts of gross sexual assault were dismissed. According to the indictment, the offense took place between August 2011 and August 2012 in Augusta.
Whitney is to report to the jail Friday morning to begin her sentence. She also must register as a lifetime sex offender.
In a separate hearing also in Kennebec County Superior Court, Ernest L. Gagnon Jr., 31, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Tracy DeVoll told the judge that Gagnon brought a dirt bike to A & E Pawn Shop in Augusta on May 14 and asked for help from a couple in order to remove it from the back of a pickup.
He told one of them it was stolen, DeVoll said.
DeVoll also said the pawn shop owner was upset that his pickup had been used to move the dirt bike.
Police said the dirt bike, valued at $18,000 because of the addition of expensive parts, had been reported stolen 10 days earlier in Fairfield.
Gagnon was previously convicted of stealing an ATV and served 30 months in prison on that offense.
Gagnon’s defense attorney, William Baghdoyan, said Gagnon would deny telling people that the dirt bike was stolen, but realized with all the evidence he would be convicted.
“He had a drug problem,” Baghdoyan said.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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