PARIS – A Mexico man was indicted Friday on 16 charges of rape by an Oxford County grand jury in Paris.
The indictment states that Erik A. Bourassa, 37, of 7 Fourth St., was charged with gross sexual assault for allegedly engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 14. Police allege the assaults continued over three years against one girl – six times each this year and last year, and four times in 2003, all in Mexico.
Bourassa was arrested on July 1 on a charge of gross sexual assault by Maine State Police Detective John Hainey and taken to Oxford County Jail in Paris, according to a jail booking sheet.
Bourassa, an engineer employed by Honeywell in Jay, was conditionally released two days later on bail of either $1,000 cash or $5,000 surety. The conditions of his release were not noted on the jail booking sheet.
Mexico Police Chief Jim Theriault and state police spokesman Stephen McCausland said Wednesday that the Maine Department of Human Services asked state police, rather than Mexico police, to investigate the charges because of a potential conflict: Bourassa is the son of Rumford Police Chief Timothy Bourassa.
Mexico police often work closely with Rumford police.
McCausland said state police only go into another police department’s jurisdiction to investigate a crime or crimes if the local department has a conflict, or if the crime or crimes occurred outside the local department’s jurisdiction.
No arraignment date has been set in the case.
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