Ex-Husson College student pleads no contest to rape

BANGOR – A former Husson College student pleaded no contest Monday in Penobscot County Superior court to raping a fellow student in April 2003 during a dance on the Bangor campus.

Devin A. Deabler, 20, of South Thomaston, admitted to police that he had consumed about 20 beers before he talked a female student from Gouldsboro, now 21, into going outside to look for a friend with him, Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, told the court Monday.

A sentencing date is not expected to be set for at least 90 days so that a sentencing report can be completed and an examination by a forensic psychologist can be conducted.

Deabler’s victim did not appear in court on Monday, but will be allowed to make a victim impact statement at his sentencing.

A plea agreement states that prosecutors will recommend Deabler be sentenced to eight years in prison with all but two suspended and six years probation, Roberts said Monday.

The defendant could have faced a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Deabler was indicted in August 2003 by the Penobscot County grand jury for gross sexual assault and assault. As part of the plea agreement, the assault charge is expected to be dropped.

Roberts told Superior Court Justice S. Kirk Studstrup that Deabler propositioned the victim at a dance at Husson College on April 12, 2003. After indicating that she wasn’t interested in him, Deabler continued to approach her. Later in the evening, he talked her into going outside.

Deabler led the woman to a stand of trees not far from the building, Roberts said Monday, and then raped her while she continued to say no. She immediately reported the incident to resident assistants at her dorm and to the Bangor police.

The 6-foot-3-inch blond man, who weighs 210 pounds, was arrested the next day. He was released on $1,000 cash bail, with conditions that included no use of intoxicants.

Deabler was arrested on Oct. 9 in Rockland and charged with drug and alcohol possession and violating conditions of release after police stopped him for having a noisy muffler on his car.

Deabler’s bail on the rape charge was revoked, and he remains in Knox County Jail awaiting the resolution of the drug charges.