ELLSWORTH – A former city police officer will be arraigned next Friday in Penobscot County Superior Court in Bangor on one charge of gross sexual assault and three charges of unlawful sexual conduct, officials said Wednesday.

Shane K. Butler, 29, of Eddington was indicted last week by a Penobscot County grand jury after a three-month state police investigation, according to Michael Roberts, Penobscot County deputy district attorney.

The rape and unlawful sexual conduct charges leveled against Butler stem from alleged incidents that occurred during the summer and fall of 1994 involving Butler and a minor female, who was 14 years old at the time, Roberts said.

“For various reasons in the victim’s life at the time, she did not report” the alleged abuse, Roberts said, “but events that occurred last fall led her to report the incidents to police.”

The events last fall involved the alleged victim and Butler but were not of a sexual nature, Roberts said.

Butler was placed on administrative leave almost immediately after Ellsworth police officials learned last Dec. 9 that the state police were investigating him, Ellsworth police Lt. Harold Page said Wednesday.

Butler failed to show up for a physical exam at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro on Jan. 31, Page said, and was fired by City Manager Tim King on Feb. 1.

Butler worked for the department for about one year before being terminated, Page said.

The Maine State Police investigation took longer than a typical case, Roberts said, because of the time lapse between when the crimes allegedly occurred and when they were reported.

Butler’s attorney, Bruce Mallonee of Bangor, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.