Bangor man to serve 8 years for sexual abuse of two boys

BANGOR – A local man convicted of sexually abusing two adolescent boys will spend eight years in prison and serve 10 years’ probation for his offenses.

Thomas J. Hart, 63, was sentenced Friday in Penobscot County Superior Court to 13 years in prison with all but eight years suspended on one count of gross sexual assault and 10 years in prison with all but eight suspended on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Justice Allen Hunter admonished Hart for “not accepting responsibility” for his actions in pronouncing the sentences.

Hart must serve 10 years of probation upon his release. He also faces several conditions once released, including having no contact with the victims, no contact with any minors, residing where he is directed by the Department of Probation and Parole, undergoing psychological treatment, and abstaining from alcohol use.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts, commenting on the case, praised a Rite Aid photography development worker for contacting police after processing pictures from Hart that depicted his engaging in sexual activity with a boy.

“If those photos hadn’t been brought to the attention of police, Mr. Hart might well still be seeking victims,” Roberts said.

An assistant manager at Rite Aid on Union Street testified at Hart’s trial that he brought in a roll of film to be developed on Aug. 6, 2001. Melissa Pangakis testified that Hart was a regular customer. She said that after she developed and examined the photos, she found that several of them showed Hart performing oral sex on a male who appeared to be a minor. Following company policy, Pangakis turned the photos in to police the next day.

At the trial last month, a 14-year-old boy testified he and two other boys rode to Hart’s Fourth Street apartment the morning of July 13, 2001. He said he had been there before with other boys because Hart gave them cigarettes and wine coolers.

The teenager, who was 12 at the time of the incident, said that Hart sent him and another boy into the bathroom. When they came out, the two saw Hart performing oral sex on the third boy. He testified that when he refused to take photographs of Hart and the boy, Hart said that he’d “hit somebody on the head with a hammer and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”

The boy told the jury of nine women and three men that he took three or four photos, then tossed the camera onto Hart’s bed and went outside. Neither the victim of the sexual assault nor the other boy testified during the trial.

It took the jury 45 minutes to find Hart guilty.