Court to try teen as adult Man accused in vandalism case

ELLSWORTH – An 18-year-old Sullivan man accused of helping to cause $60,000 in damage to a home on Toad Hole Road in Sullivan when he was 17 will be tried as an adult.

District Court Judge Bernard Staples ruled last week that Christopher Kidder’s case should be bound over to Hancock County Superior Court.

In his ruling, Staples cited the seriousness of Kidder’s crime and the lack of cooperation and rehabilitation Kidder has exhibited despite repeated stays at the Maine Youth Center in South Portland.

Kidder “has failed to respond or to give any hope that he would [change his behavior] without stronger measures than available under the Juvenile Code,” Staples wrote.

Police accused Kidder, along with a 15-year-old boy, of breaking into the unoccupied home of Ted and Joan Petterson last April and destroying nearly the entire contents of the home, a guesthouse and a pickup truck on the property.

At his Nov. 5 hearing in District Court, Kidder admitted that he and Karl Whipple, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of burglary and aggravated criminal mischief in May, broke into the house and smashed windows, appliances, fixtures, furniture, ripped books into pieces and destroyed other items. Kidder was a few days short of his 18th birthday and on probation for a previous offense when the Pettersons’ home was ransacked.

Kidder’s attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth, said that Staples’ decision does not come as a surprise. He added that with the decision, Kidder will likely waive his right to a jury trial and plead guilty.

“It’ll probably happen in the next couple of weeks,” Toothaker said last week.

Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Pat Larson said he was happy with the decision.

“I think it’s the right way to go,” Larson said last week, adding that Staples cited the factors of Kidder’s circumstances that warrant his being tried as an adult. He said that Whipple’s juvenile plea agreement also was what the state had sought.

“We’re pleased with that result, because he had been doing well in school,” Larson said of the state’s desire to not try Whipple as an adult.

A court appearance date for Kidder in Hancock County Superior Court has yet to be set.