PORTLAND — A 43-year-old former Old Orchard Beach man convicted of gross sexual assault in that seaside town in 2013 ”“ and who previously served a 10-year sentence in Georgia for rape, false imprisonment and aggravated assault ”“ pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to failing to register as a sex offender.
James Robert Underwood, who lived in Old Orchard Beach in 2012, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He is currently being held in federal custody pending sentencing.
Maine Department of Corrections records show Underwood was convicted at York County Superior Court in April 2013 for gross sexual assault that took place in Old Orchard Beach on March 31, 2012. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with all but two years suspended, and ordered to serve four years probation. He had been living in Dalton, Georgia and was on probation following his release from a Maine prison.
His history in Georgia shows he completed his 10-year prison term there in 2009 and registered as a sex offender in 2010 and 2011. But a few months prior to his 2012 re-registration deadline, Underwood drove to Maine with his adult son in order to start a new life, according to documents on file at U.S. District Court in Portland. Within a couple of days of his arrival in Maine, he committed himself to a 40-hour work week with a company that is now defunct, according to court documents.
He didn’t notify the Whitefield County Sheriff’s office in Georgia of his trip to Maine, a requirement of his mandate to register as a sex offender within 72 hours of the move, and he didn’t register in Maine. Underwood is a lifetime registrant, which means he is required to register annually as a sex offender.
He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Marshals Service.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].
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