Local man sentenced for gross sexual assault

    HOULTON — Edward Richard Collins, 51, of Houlton, pled guilty March 11 to a Class A charge of gross sexual assault and a Class D charge of unlawful sexual contact. These incidents, according to Assistant District Attorney Patrick Gordon, occurred over a four-year period from 2004 to 2007 and involved a female age 11–14 and a 15-year-old male.
    As part of a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s office, additional charges against Collins of unlawful sexual contact, sexual abuse of a minor, sexual misconduct with a child under 14 years, and assault were dismissed. At the Defendant’s request, Justice E. Allen Hunter of the Superior Court continued the matter until May 28 for sentencing.
    On May 28, Justice Hunter sentenced Collins to 12 years in prison with all but 42 months suspended and four years’ probation on the gross sexual assault charge. On the other charge, Collins was sentenced to six months in prison. Over the District Attorney’s Office’s objection, the Superior Court gave Collins until May 29, to turn himself into the County Jail to be transported to Maine State Prison. The Houlton Police Department arrested Collins on June 4 after he failed to turn himself in to the jail on the agreed upon date.
    In addition to the convictions for the sex offenses, Collins now faces an additional felony charge of failure to report for incarceration.
    According to ADA Gordon, this Collins case involved repeated instances of sexual assaults. However, he explained that it is not unusual to dismiss some charges in exchange for a guilty plea on others. Gordon stated that the dismissed charges were not as serious and involved the same victim. “The severity of the sentence in this case reflects the ongoing nature of the sexual abuse; but, we never would have been able to impose this type of sentence had it not been for the courage of the victims to come forward and stand their ground,” Gordon said.
    Collins’ probation conditions include: no contact with the victims; no contact with children under the age of 16 without permission of his probation officer; no possession of pornographic materials; and complete sexual offender evaluation and counseling.
    The conviction classifies Collins as a lifetime registrant on the Maine Sex Offender Registry which is available on the State of Maine Web site. According to court documents, Collins had a previous conviction for a sexual assault in Massachusetts and a 2001 indecent conduct conviction in Superior Court in Houlton. His most recent known address in Houlton was 68 Reservoir Hill Road.