Abortion protester guilty of assault at Bangor church

BANGOR – Abortion protester Terence Hughes was found guilty Thursday in 3rd District Court of assaulting a woman at St. John’s Catholic Church in May.

Judge Jessie Gunther set Hughes’ sentencing for 1 p.m. March 11 and released Hughes, 65, of Orono on personal recognizance bail. While on bail, he is ordered to have no contact with victim Nancy Long, the office manager at the York Street church, and to stage his Sunday morning protests at least 75 feet away from the building where she works and worships.

Hughes, who has no criminal record, was found not guilty of assaulting Joseph Howard in the same incident, which involved his moving through a small group of people. Gunther dismissed a disorderly conduct charge.

York Street is approximately 32 feet wide, according to the city’s Engineering Department. If Hughes were to stand 75 feet directly across the street from the church, he would be on the sidewalk in front of the house at 20 Brown St., which runs between State and York streets.

“I was convicted on perjured testimony,” Hughes told reporters outside the Hammond Street courthouse. “They must really be desperate. … Jesus Christ also was convicted on perjured testimony.”

Long and other parishioners who attended the trial declined to comment on the verdict. Patrick Larson, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, who prosecuted the case, said Long was pleased and relieved at the outcome.

Hughes was arrested outside the church Sunday, May 18, the morning 7-year-olds were to take their first Communion. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in June, and his trial before Gunther began July 17 and concluded with Hughes’ testimony in his own defense Thursday.

The charges were part of a continuing dispute among Hughes, other abortion protesters and parishioners at the church. It began in May 2002, when Gov. John Baldacci, then running for office, attended a spaghetti dinner there that raised money for a local charity. Hughes objected to the church allowing a pro-choice Catholic politician to take part in such an event.

Long and Howard testified in July that it’s not Hughes’ politics but the large, graphic photographs of what Hughes says are bloody, dismembered, aborted fetuses that he displays in his protests that they and other church members find objectionable.

In an effort to shield the children from Hughes’ posters, members of the parish council placed balloons and signs on the grassy area in front of the church the morning of May 18. Long testified that she and others arrived about 5:45 a.m. to inflate balloons and decorate signs. When Hughes and fellow protester Ernest Gallant arrived about 9:20 a.m., a parishioner called Bangor police on a cell phone.

Hughes and Gallant testified that when Officer Michael Brennan arrived, he directed them to move across the street and position themselves in the same area where Long, Howard and others were standing on a grassy area between the sidewalk.

Under direct questioning, Hughes said he knew that he and Gallant could have moved their protest farther east or west across from the church, but he felt that infringed on his First Amendment rights because people could not see the signs as well. Hughes testified that he followed Brennan’s instructions because “I don’t argue with cops.”

Hughes denied Wednesday that when he carried his signs across the street and stepped onto the area where the parishioners were standing, he pushed past Howard or made contact with Long, causing her to lose her balance and step forward onto the sidewalk.

In announcing her verdict, Gunther cited conflicting testimony from “biased” witnesses, but that she relied on Brennan’s account of events to make her decision. Brennan testified in July that although he did not see Hughes push or come into contact with Long, he did see Long step forward as Hughes came behind her.

The Rev. Richard McLaughlin, pastor of St. John’s, said late Thursday afternoon that he and church leaders were pleased with the outcome.

“This is what we hoped we would get,” he said in a phone interview. “The verdict is something that we have been hoping for. It’s been a long, ongoing struggle.”

McLaughlin expressed concern, however, that other protesters can display the same signs in front of the church where Hughes was standing when he was arrested.

Gunther said that if Hughes abides by his bail conditions, he would be fined $150 in March, but would receive no further sentence.

Hughes faced a maximum sentence of up to 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine on each assault charge, and six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on the disorderly conduct charge.

A parishioner at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Orono, Hughes has led abortion protests in various parts of the state for nearly 30 years. A University of Maine professor, he conducts weekly protests on campus when classes are in session, and pickets weekly in front of the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center on Harlow Street in Bangor.