Bangor man convicted of sex crimes in retrial

MANCHESTER, N.H. – A Maine man whose original sexual assault conviction against two sisters was overturned by a federal court has been convicted again in a new state trial.

Earlier this year a federal appeals court overturned the 1997 conviction of Delvin White of Bangor, Maine, who had been found guilty of sexually assaulting two Manchester sisters, aged 8 and 12 at the time. The court said he should have been allowed to question them about purported false allegations of previous assaults.

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear New Hampshire’s appeal of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the refusal to question the girls violated White’s constitutional rights.

In the retrial, the case of the younger sister was dismissed on technical grounds but after a three-day trial in Hillsborough County Superior Court, White on Thursday was convicted of one count of rape and one count of felonious sexual assault against the older sister.

White, 60, was jailed on March 2, 1996, when he was arrested on charges he sexually assaulted the girls while visiting their father in his Manchester apartment.

White initially was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison and through appeals had the term reduced to 35 years. He now faces a sentence of 20 to 60 years. No sentencing date was set.