FARMINGTON – Gerald “Gary” Fletcher, 48, pleaded guilty Friday to crimes against a young girl and was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison for sexually exploiting a minor, with all but six years suspended. Concurrent five-year prison sentences were given for unlawful sexual contact and visual sexual aggression.
The New Vineyard man also must serve 15 years of probation.
The sentences were handed down in Franklin County Superior Court.
Fletcher was arrested in November after Franklin County Sheriff’s Detective David St. Laurent received a complaint from the Maine Department of Human Services.
According to police, someone discovered that Fletcher had an explicit picture of a young girl and reported it to the state. The child was interviewed, and Fletcher turned himself in to deputies after a warrant was issued. Two of Fletcher’s computers were seized during the investigation, St. Laurent said.
Assistant District Attorney James Andrews argued for a 15-year sentence, saying the photo led to other sexual activity with the girl last summer.
According to testimony provided to the state by a doctor who interviewed Fletcher, Fletcher minimized, distorted or justified his actions by saying the girl wanted to play doctor.
“This is not somebody who is accepting responsibility for his actions,” said Justice Joseph Jabar.
Andrews said the skirt the girl had on the day of the incident was found in Fletcher’s suitcase.
Several family members testified, including Fletcher’s adult daughters, his wife, brother and father.
“I love you, but I absolutely abhor what you’ve done,” said one daughter. “You took away the most precious thing a little girl has – her innocence. I can’t understand how you got to that level of perversion,” she added.
The other daughter testified that the family had shunned him when Fletcher chose to leave the church they attended together. He was ignored at family gatherings and members were instructed by church officials not to speak with him, according to her testimony.
“I know what my father did was wrong,” she said. But she wondered how the family’s treatment affected him. He had been “a good and moral father,” she said.
“As a wife, it’s very hard to see my husband go off to prison,” said Edith Fletcher, his wife. “I hate what you did and so does God,” she added, addressing him directly. “You kept rejecting God’s call to be saved and sunk deeper and deeper into sin.”
A pastor who visited Fletcher in jail and has since counseled him, said he’s been attending his church since his release.
“I saw a man whose heart was broken,” said the clergyman. “Though no man knows another man’s heart,” he appears to be contrite, he said.
“Nothing can repair what he’s done,” admitted Fletcher’s attorney, Ronald Cullenberg. “He’s here today without any excuses of denial of what he’s done,” he said, asking for a 12-month sentence.
Fletcher remained stoic throughout the hearing, showing emotion only as he hugged family members over the railing before officers escorted him out of the courtroom to begin serving his sentence.
Comments are no longer available on this story