State court upholds sex offender notification law

PORTLAND – The state supreme court upheld Maine’s sex offender notification law this week in the first case to reach the court since the list of sexual offenses covered by the law was expanded.

The ruling came in the case of a man who was convicted in Oxford County of unlawful sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl.

Brian S. Haskell Sr. contended that the law should not have been applied to him since the offense occurred on Aug. 8, 1999, a month before the changes enacted by the Maine Legislature went into effect.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that the notification law was a civil remedy that could be applied retroactively.

“Nothing in any of the acts suggests that the Legislature sought to create anything other than a civil registration and notification procedure designed to protect the public from harm. The legislative intent in enacting [the law], therefore, is remedial, not criminal,” Justice Paul Rudman wrote.

The sex offender notification law dates back to 1991, when it applied to people convicted of gross sexual assault of a minor. Over the years, the law was tweaked several times. In the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 1999, the Legislature expanded the types of offenses covered by the law to include unlawful sexual contact.

Unlike New Jersey’s Megan’s Law and other community notification laws, the Maine law requires only the notification of law enforcement agencies when a convicted sex offender moves into a community.

Haskell maintained his innocence but did not appeal his conviction. However, he did not believe that he should be branded as a sexual offender with law enforcement authorities, said his lawyer, Douglas D. Hendrick.

“Especially where he does maintain his innocence, he felt that it was sort of like a scarlet letter that was being used to humiliate him and possibly deny him the same treatment of other citizens,” Hendrick said.

Haskell was ordered to serve three years in prison with all but 14 months suspended. He was released from prison in September and is now living at an undisclosed location in southern Maine.