Piscataquis court to hear domestic violence cases

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A handful of domestic violence cases await trials in Piscataquis County Superior Court this month despite the aggressive efforts of a local domestic violence prevention project.

Members of the anti-violence organization say the fact that the cases are scheduled for trial indicates that the project’s push for zero tolerance for domestic abuse is being heard.

“We had an incredibly busy summer,” Cynthia Freeman-Cyr, resource development coordinator for Womancare, said Friday. She recalled one very unusual day when five Womancare officials were working with five clients at the same time.

“I do think people are more likely to bring things forward either seeking assistance through Womancare or seeking help from police,” Freeman-Cyr said. “It speaks to the need for the community to respond with all the resources we have.”

Freeman-Cyr, whose agency is gearing up for National Domestic Awareness Month in October, said people are becoming more alert to domestic abuse.

Womancare, which serves Piscataquis County and southwestern Penobscot County, including Greater Dexter, provides community education and sponsors events to increase awareness in local communities around issues of abuse in families.

The agency works throughout the year toward creating a world where there is zero tolerance for domestic violence, according to Ginger Hutchins, client services coordinator.

Officials with the association offer services to victims of domestic violence, including assistance and encouragement during court trials.

Two of the domestic violence cases scheduled for court this month involve a man charged with unlawful sexual contact with a then-16-year-old girl, and a man who allegedly threatened his wife with a gun.

John Judkins Sr., 27, of Monson, whose trial is set for Monday, Sept. 8, allegedly went to the home of his children’s baby-sitter on Aug. 15, 2002, grabbed the 16-year-old girl by her wrist, pulled her into a wooded area next to the Dover-Foxcroft mobile home park where both were living at the time, and sexually assaulted her.

The girl, who reported the assault to her parents and was treated at Mayo Regional Hospital, reported that Judkins was intoxicated at the time of the assault.

Another high-profile domestic violence case to be heard this month involves Mark Durant, 30, of Guilford. Durant allegedly threatened his wife with a gun in October 2002 after weeks of reported abuse and then fled the state for a period.

According to an affidavit filed by police, Durant allegedly had been drinking and smoking marijuana when he knocked his wife off the bed and onto the floor, where he pressed a loaded Glock 9 mm pistol to her head and yelled that he was going to kill her.

The affidavit also mentioned another incident in which Durant allegedly fired a gun in the house and the bullet passed within two feet of his wife’s head.

Police seized three handguns, a shotgun, two rifles, several hundred rounds of ammunition, marijuana and drug paraphernalia from the home.