JAY – Police charged a former Canton man Monday night with gross sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl.

Craig Tracy, 21, was arrested at the Franklin County Jail in Farmington, where he has been held since he turned himself in on a warrant for escape two days after an Aug. 2 incident.

Tracy had been under house arrest at a home in Jay and was wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet when the incident occurred, Jay Police Chief Larry White Sr. said.

Tracy had fled the residence – an apartment attached to a house, White said – before police arrived.

The assault is alleged to have occurred at the apartment, White said.

An arrest warrant for escape was issued by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

Jay acting Detective Russell Adams conducted an investigation lasting nearly a week before charging Tracy with gross sexual assault, White said.

Tracy’s mother was instrumental in her son’s turning himself in, the chief said.

An arraignment on the new charge and pending state charges is anticipated for 12:45 p.m. Wednesday at Farmington District Court.

Tracy, who was serving a six-month sentence for burglary of a motor vehicle, had about three weeks left to serve when the incident occurred, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson said.

Tracy had served most of the burglary sentence in jail but was released to house arrest on the electronic monitoring system, Robinson said.

State prosecutors had denied Tracy’s previous requests to take part in the bracelet program, Robinson said.

Robinson said that with Tracy’s being scheduled for release from jail within 30 days, the monitoring-bracelet program would allow him to make the transition back into the community while still being monitored and while still being under the scrutiny of the jail.

Tracy was allowed to leave house arrest to go to work in Farmington but had to report back at a certain time.

Before the six-month sentence for the burglary charge, Tracy had served a six-month sentence for misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact.

He had been indicted previously on a charge of felony gross sexual assault for an incident involving a southern Maine woman in October 2003 in New Sharon. The charge was reduced because of “serious evidentiary hurdles that we didn’t know if we could overcome,” Robinson said.

There was a plea agreement that included a guilty plea to the unlawful sexual contact charge, which carried a six-month sentence; a guilty plea to burglary of a motor vehicle, which carried a consecutive six-month sentence; and a guilty plea to burglary of a residence or garage, which carried a three-year sentence. All sentences were suspended, with probation.