MACHIAS – The state attorney general has filed a complaint against five Baileyville men for allegedly violating the civil rights of five Indian Township youth.

The men allegedly confronted the Indians in Baileyville last year and assaulted them with sticks and pipes.

The action against Corey Townsend, 17; Sean MacArthur, 20; Adam Casey, 24; David Townsend, 21; and Nicholas James, 18, was filed in Washington County Superior Court last month and seeks an injunction prohibiting the five from having contact with the victims and from engaging in any future violations of the Maine Civil Rights Act, Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said Monday.

“The defendants’ actions directly interfered with the rights of the victims to walk the streets of Baileyville free of violence or threats of violence based on bias against their race, color or ancestry,” reads the motion for preliminary injunction.

Each of the five faces a fine of up to $5,000. In addition, if the injunction is violated, criminal charges may be filed by the state.

Corey Townsend, David Townsend and Nicholas James said in their response to the court, “I … do not agree with any of these charges within this complaint.”

In his statement to the court, Adam Casey denied any and all charges in the complaint.

Sean MacArthur just recently received a copy of the complaint and has not yet responded.

The victims are five Indian males ages 13, 14, 15, 16 and 20.

First Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh said Monday the state’s civil rights case is separate from the criminal cases that are still pending.

“What has happened so far with the criminal prosecution is four adults and one juvenile have been charged with aggravated assault, some as principals and some as accomplices,” he said.

Cavanaugh did not identify the juvenile, but according to the civil rights case, it is Corey Townsend.

According to the state’s civil rights complaint, on Aug. 19, 2007, the victims were socializing in the area of a local credit union in Baileyville. A vehicle drove up and the Baileyville men emerged from the car. According to the complaint some were armed with 2-by-4’s, sticks and pipes.

The accused shouted racial epithets at the victims and chased them, according to the complaint. Defendant Nicholas James yelled, ‘Come on, let’s get the Indians,'” the document states.

Corey Townsend and James assaulted the 14-year-old victim by punching and kicking him, while Adam Casey, David Townsend and others stood by physically blocking anyone attempting to assist the victim, according to the complaint.

Sean MacArthur, the complaint says, chased the 20-year-old victim and assaulted him with a stick. “The altercation ended when the victims ran away from their assailants. As the victims ran away, some of the defendants yelled more racial epithets along with, “Go back to Township …,” the complaint states.

Shortly after the incident, the five Baileyville men were summoned and charged by the Baileyville Police Department.

The state’s civil rights case is not unique. There have been about 200 such civil rights cases involving individuals in Maine, Robbin said Monday.

Most defendants stay away from the victims, she added, so few civil cases have resulted in criminal charges also being prosecuted by the state.

“Once we have an injunction, if a defendant intentionally violates that injunction, for example, and has contact with the victim or engages in some other violation of the Civil Rights Act in the future, that then is prosecutable as a Class D crime,” she explained, referring to a crime punishable by less than one year in prison. “We only have had about six civil rights [violations] that we had to prosecute criminally where these guys have intentionally violated the terms of an order.”

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