Sex charges in 2000 incident dropped Under plea deal, Sullivan man to serve 30 days in case involving 3 juveniles

ELLSWORTH – A Sullivan man originally charged with several sex offenses in connection with a 2000 incident that involved three juveniles has reached a deal with prosecutors that will keep him in jail for only 30 days.

Barry McLaughlin, 53, pleaded guilty last week in Hancock County Superior Court to three charges of assault after the Hancock County District Attorney’s Office agreed to drop charges of gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, sexual abuse of a minor and endangering the welfare of a child.

Mary Kellett, Hancock County assistant district attorney, said Friday that the victims in the case agreed to the deal because they wanted to put the case behind them.

“It took so long to get to trial that the victims had basically moved on [psychologically],” Kellett said. “They just said, ‘We can’t deal with this any longer.'”

Kellett said that a change in defense attorneys, scheduling conflicts and two failed attempts to pick a jury for a trial helped drag out the case. There also is a risk of acquittal in any jury trial, she said.

“Nobody knows what the end result is going to be,” she said.

Attempts last week and on Tuesday to contact McLaughlin’s attorney, Stephen Smith of Bangor, were unsuccessful.

The incident that led to the original charges occurred Oct. 4, 2000, at McLaughlin’s home, according to Superior Court documents. The reported incident involved two girls under the age of 16. The state claimed originally that McLaughlin raped one girl and sexually abused and assaulted the other, according to court documents.

A juvenile boy from Gouldsboro was assaulted by McLaughlin during the alleged incident.

McLaughlin was accused of giving alcohol to the girls he allegedly sexually abused, Kellett has said. McLaughlin was a neighbor of the girls’ mother, according to the prosecutor.