By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Several area parents have received bogus letters implicating their teens in substance abuse, Detective Marc Bowering of the Farmington Police Department said.

Bowering said Wednesday that police have received copies of four letters, three received by Farmington families and one by a Wilton family, that appeared to be sent from the town of Farmington and the Maine Office of Substance and Chemical Abuse in Augusta. The letters were all postmarked from Farmington.

The letters warn parents that their children were “acting in a manner which may be consequential to his/her future and the safety of those around them.”

“Reports have been made by neighbors recognizing teenage parties on recent Friday and/or Saturday nights,” the writer continued. “Recognition has been made by people in the community of Farmington/Wilton/Temple. In order to prevent punishment that will drastically affect their futures, this letter is a warning to you and your child.”

The letter also states that “most parents are overconfident in believing they would know if their child was drinking,” a claim that has been highly publicized by the state’s Office of Substance Abuse.

All implicated students are Mt. Blue High School juniors in good standing; some are athletes and none of them are in any trouble, said Bowering, who would not elaborate further.

Kimberly A. Johnson, director of the state’s Office of Substance Abuse, said the writer clearly researched the topic of teen alcoholism, stating accurate information about the signs of alcohol abuse, negative health effects, drinking laws and statistics.

The two-page letter “is really good,” she said. “Whoever did it did their homework,” she added. It is the sort of letter the office would write, except for the accusatory first paragraph, she added.

Erroneous information, though, pointed to the fraudulent nature of the communication.

Inaccuracies included the office’s name – it is the Office of Substance Abuse, without “Chemical” as the writer added. The author also changed the agency’s address in the Marquardt Building of the A.M.H.I. Complex, to Marquetacita Building. The letter, too, was seemingly signed by NBC late-night TV show host Carson Daly, identifying him as director of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, though the author misspelled the host’s last name.

“I’m dying to know who did this,” said Johnson. Whoever penned it is “some really bright kid.”

She doubted an adult would go to so much effort.

She also noted the interesting timing.

Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson recently sent a letter to all parents in that county urging them to be vigilant in monitoring their teens’ behavior as prom and graduation season approach. Though her letter is posted on the office’s Web site, it does not appear the letter-writer used it as a reference.

Bowering said the forger could be a teen with a vendetta against the victims. There’s a tie between all of them, he said. The investigation is in the early stages.

Johnson said her office had not yet spoken with the attorney general’s office about the case and has made no decisions whether to press charges once the writer is found. She said, however, that her office is charged with holding teens responsible for their actions.