Toilet suspect lands in Maine court

AUGUSTA – A Pittston man’s arrest two weeks ago after being pulled from a pit toilet in New Hampshire has landed him in hot water in Maine.

Gary Moody, 45, appeared Thursday in Kennebec County Superior Court on a charge of violating his probation by leaving the state and allegedly committing new crimes.

Moody denied the allegations and remained free after posting bail set at $100,000 worth of real estate.

Moody has been free on $250 bail from Carroll County, N.H., where he faces two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of criminal trespass after being found June 26 in the waste tank of a pit toilet on U.S. Forest Service property in Albany, N.H.

Authorities arrived at the scene after a 14-year-old girl heard a noise in the toilet and saw a face looking up at her. Moody was removed by police and was hosed down by firefighters before being arrested.

Walter McKee, the attorney representing Moody at Thursday’s hearing, noted that his arrest in New Hampshire came four days before his year’s probation for a Maine drunken driving conviction was scheduled to end.

In seeking to have Moody held without bail, Assistant District Attorney Brad Grant noted that Moody was on probation for a sixth OUI and that probationers in Maine must have written permission from a probation officer before leaving the state.

“He left the state of Maine without permission, and the crimes he is alleged to have committed in New Hampshire are extremely disturbing,” the prosecutor said.

McKee argued that Moody, the owner of the Windsor Convenience Store, has strong community ties and would abide by conditions of probation.

Moody is scheduled to appear in District Court in North Conway, N.H., to answer the charges in that state.