Tenants Harbor man guilty of sexual abuse > Daughter was victimized for many years

ROCKLAND – A Knox County Superior Court jury found a Tenants Harbor man guilty on all 41 counts of sexually abusing his now 18-year-old daughter, including two counts that involved her friend.

Maurice Hupper, 65, sat in the courtroom emotionless during the nearly half-hour it took the jury to announce its verdict on each count. The charges included 19 gross sexual assaults, two of which included compulsion or force; and 22 counts of unlawful sexual contacts, some with penetration. Two of the counts involved a daughter’s friend who was visiting the Huppers’ home when the girls were about 12.

“We’re very pleased with the jury’s verdict,” Deputy District Attorney Leane Zainea said, adding that this type of case is always difficult for everyone involved, including the jury.

Hupper originally was charged with 294 counts, but in Justice John Atwood’s chambers Monday before the trial began, the number was reduced to 41 for administrative purposes.

Just before the jury read its verdicts, Hupper turned and stared toward his daughter. She looked away.

Hupper took the witness stand Wednesday – the third day of the trial – and told jurors that he never had sexual intercourse with his daughter, but admitted that when she turned 16, he started touching her genitals because “she was coming on to me at age 15.” He also reasoned that he “played” with her so she would not jump at the first boy and end up pregnant.

Hupper and his wife, Delores Hupper, 44, were arrested in March on charges that they sexually abused their daughter. He was initially charged with 294 counts and she with 10 counts, both cases included gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact charges.

On Monday, Delores Hupper pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual contact, involving penetration. In a plea agreement, she was to cooperate in the trial against her husband in exchange for dismissal of the other charges and a five-year sentencing cap.

Although Maurice Hupper’s charges dated back to 1993, the District Attorney’s Office had said the inappropriate touching began when the daughter was only 4 years old.

During the final day of the trial, Zainea asked Hupper what his reaction was to his daughter first telling him that she was pregnant earlier this year. He said that he recommended she not have the baby because, if it was his, there could be something wrong with it.

Zainea questioned Hupper on how the child could possibly be his if he had never had sexual intercourse with his daughter.

The prosecutor referred to a taped conversation between him and his daughter, arranged by Knox County sheriff’s detectives. In the tape, Hupper responds to his daughter telling him the baby was his by saying that a “drop” may have spilled out. Hupper explained to the court that a drop of semen might have come from his hand or the blanket.

Hupper claimed he never had sex acts with his daughter before she was 16 because he knew it would mean a jail sentence.

Defense attorney Lawrence Frier attempted to cast doubt with the jury by bringing up his client’s medical problems, and offered documentation that Hupper had gone to the state Department of Marine Resources for licenses on the day he was accused of having forced sex with his daughter.

Hupper testified that because of his ailments, he has had trouble with sexual performance for the past 10 years.

Hupper blamed his daughter for seducing him, and told the jury he did try to stop it.

“Seducing is not something you allow,” Hupper said. “Seducing is something that just happens.”

Throughout the trial, testimony brought to light that the Huppers’ home was a place where the father was orchestrating sexual activity between all of the family members.

In closing arguments, Zainea said, “The secret held so closely by the Hupper family for oh so long is now revealed.”

The secret silenced a family, the actions of the Department of Human Services and teachers. Over the years, the daughter had cried out for help through writing letters to teachers, the school principal and a guidance counselor. But the investigations by DHS failed when they questioned the victim in front of her father.

The victim loved her father, Zainea said, but she wanted him to stop.

“That hurt didn’t start when she was 16,” Zainea said. “That hurt started much earlier.”

When Frier addressed the jury for closing statements, he pointed to the fact that there was no physical evidence in the case.

Before the trial began Monday, the judge considered several motions, including one from the prosecutor in which she noted that evidence might be brought into the trial concerning an April fire that leveled the Huppers’ home. Ultimately, the attorneys agreed not to raise the issue during the trial. No one has been charged in the fire.

After the verdict, Frier asked that Hupper’s bail conditions be changed to allow him contact with his wife.

The judge said that Hupper would be held without bail, therefore there was no need for conditions, and that his wife’s bail would remain the same. Delores Hupper is being held on $25,000 single surety or $5,000 cash. A condition of her bail is no contact with her husband. Presentence investigations and evaluations have been ordered on both Huppers before sentencing will occur.