Man pleads not guilty of sexual abuse

BANGOR – Two days after he was indicted on 22 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, a Bangor man pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday in Penobscot County Superior Court.

Billy W. Potter, 34, was released on $750 cash bail posted by his brother.

A trial date has not been set.

Potter allegedly sexually abused four males between the ages of 14 and 16 between 1998 and 2000 in Garland and in Bangor, according to Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Alice Clifford.

The prosecutor told Maine Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead that Potter had “acknowledged” to police that he had sexually abused the boys.

After the arraignment Wednesday, Clifford declined to give details about the alleged incidents.

Average bail for Class C crimes is $500 cash or $5,000 surety, Mead said during the hearing.

A staff sergeant with the Maine Army National Guard, Potter appeared in court wearing a civilian suit. He has been working full time for more than a year as a military police officer, Maj. Peter Rogers, spokesman for the Guard, said Monday.

Potter’s status with the Guard will remain unchanged until the case against him is resolved, according to Rogers.

In June, Potter appeared in 3rd District Court in Bangor on unrelated charges of allowing a minor to possess alcohol and procuring liquor for a minor. The case, which is unrelated to the abuse charges, was moved to Penobscot County Superior Court after he requested a jury trial.

Potter originally was scheduled to be in court Wednesday on a motion filed by his attorney to amend his bail conditions on the alcohol charges. Potter asked that the condition that he have no contact with minors under the age of 18 be changed so he could have contact with his brother’s children.

Ricky Potter of Brewer, whose oldest child is 6, told Mead he trusted his brother around his children.

“It would hurt them more if there is no contact,” he said.

Mead allowed Billy Potter to have supervised contact with his brother’s children but continued conditions that he have no contact with others under 18 and not consume alcohol.

If convicted on the sexual abuse charges, Potter faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison per count.