LIVERMORE FALLS – A man accused of raping and attempting to murder an elderly woman in an attack last year, plans to plead guilty to charges, his attorney said.

Kerry Gray, 40, of Livermore Falls has been held at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn since he was arrested March 11, 2003.

He is charged with attempted murder, gross sexual assault, arson and elevated aggravated assault.

Gray plans to plead guilty to the first three charges, his attorney David Sanders said.

The state plans to drop the elevated aggravated assault charge, both Sanders and state prosecutor Andrew Robinson said.

The plea is expected to be made in June.

Gray, a convicted sex offender, is accused of raping a 77-year-old Livermore Falls woman, slashing her throat and then pouring a flammable liquid in her house before setting fire to it. The woman was hospitalized for some time after the attack.

Gray, who has brain damage, lived with his parents and was a neighbor to the woman in the East Livermore section of town. Gray had known the victim all of his life, according to a state police spokesperson.

Prior to the attack, Gray had done some chores for the woman.

In January, Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman ruled that Gray was competent enough to stand trial.

Gray suffered a head injury in a single-vehicle accident when he was younger.

The accident left him with irreversible brain damage.

Sanders had argued during the hearing that his client was not competent to stand trial.

However, Ann LeBlanc, director of Maine Forensic Service, a psychologist who evaluated Gray last year, said he scored 12 out of 16 on the reasoning portion of the test. He scored borderline, below average and above mental retardation on the vocabulary portion.

The psychologist also told the court that Gray is impulsive and tends to act without thinking. His memory function is erratic, LeBlanc noted, but he remembers things that happened.

She also said that he could think “rationally.”

The state plans to seek the maximum 40 years in prison for Gray, Sanders and Robinson said. Sanders said he plans to argue for less.

Sanders claims that both the woman who was attacked and Gray himself are victims of the government’s failure to provide a program to serve someone with brain damage.

“Kerry has got brain damage,” Sanders said. “You’re dealing with someone with severe limitations.”

Sanders said several people, including himself and counselors, have tried “desperately” over the last 10 years to find a program for Gray that would shelter him from society and society from him.

Gray has been in and out of jail, and he ended up constantly on probation when his parents would go away, Sanders said.

“It got to the point that Kerry was being warehoused,” Sanders said.

“I don’t think it is fair to lay all of this at Kerry’s door,” Sanders said. “He is certainly the perpetrator … he generally feels remorse for this … but for many purposes he never had a chance. I don’t think it’s fair under the circumstances to dish up the maximum sentence allowed.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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