AUBURN – A jury watched a video Wednesday of two young boys as they stripped off bathing trunks and frolicked in the private swimming pool behind Raymond Samson’s Lewiston home.
The 54-year-old man, charged with 18 counts of various sex crimes involving minors, apparently served as director and cameraman of the roughly 10-minute home movie.
On the third day of Samson’s trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court, prosecutors called two police detectives to the stand, then rested their case.
Samson told Justice Ellen Gorman he would not testify when the defense begins presenting its case today.
Shortly before the lunch break, Assistant District Attorney Deborah Cashman showed jurors the video on a TV monitor. Samson sat at the defense table taking notes and largely ignored the movie. In it, he could be heard shouting instructions and comments to the boys.
Samson signals one of the boys to peel off his swimsuit. The camera pans down his naked body. The other boy is holding onto a rope. Samson tells him to drop his arms and drop his pants.
The boys run around the pool, jumping in and climbing out. They dance on the diving board then dive in. They take turns riding down a slide that dumps them in the pool.
At one point, one of the boys holds onto the side of the pool and lifts his buttocks out of the water. Samson can be heard calling, “Do that again,” as he captures it on tape.
The boys’ play is suddenly interrupted by Samson shouting, “Scramble!” The boys dart around the edge of the pool and reach for their swimsuits.
One of the boys, who testified earlier during the trial, said Samson had taught them that code word means they should immediately put their clothes back on because somebody has come to the house unexpectedly.
Lewiston Police Detective Scot Bradeen said he found the tape of the pool scene during a search last year of Samson’s Webster Street home in Lewiston. He was living in an apartment on the first floor of his duplex when police conducted their search. Samson also owned the house next door where prosecutors said he lived with several minors during the time of the alleged sex crimes. Those charges include gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and sexual exploitation.
Several of the half-dozen witnesses testified that, at various times, Samson had them pose for nude photos and videotaped or photographed them having sex. They also said he performed oral sex on them and urged them to engage in sex with each other while he watched and documented it.
Bradeen also said he seized computers and CDs from Samson’s home that contained nude photos. A stack of prints of those photos were handed to the jury. They passed them along, pausing briefly to study the pictures.
During testimony earlier in the week, witnesses identified themselves and other kids who lived in Samson’s house as the subjects of those photos.
During questioning of the detectives, defense lawyer Leonard Sharon attempted to cast doubt on the identity of the photographer of the pictures. He also asked whether police quizzed the alleged victims about their computer and camera competency.
Bradeen said he asked the kids who took the pictures, but did not ask which kids had access to the photography equipment.
Sharon also asked why it took so long for police to get a second search warrant to find damaged CDs buried in Samson’s back yard. Bradeen said he had trouble tracking down the witness who corroborated the information.
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