AUGUSTA (AP) – Family and friends called for harsh penalties as a man accused of kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl made a video court appearance on Wednesday.

The protest outside the courthouse underscored frustration over what critics described as lenient sentences for Albert Dumas Jr. following prior violent, sexual offenses.

Dumas, 33, of Whitefield, served little more than seven years of a 12-year sentence for raping and kidnapping a 16-year-old girl in 1992. And he served five years of an eight-year sentence for attempting to rape a 19-year-old woman at knifepoint in 2001.

Now Dumas is facing new sex charges. Police say he abducted the 14-year-old girl at knifepoint, dragged her to a car and then bound her Sunday night before driving her to several locations and sexually assaulting her multiple times.

Family and friends of the victim said Dumas deserves no leniency. “I don’t think that repeated sex offenders should be allowed on the streets. I think that there should be no plea bargains, there should be no time given for good time served,” said Patsy Breton, one of the victim’s relatives.

Dumas was charged with kidnapping, gross sexual assault and terrorizing. A judge on Wednesday raised bail from $200,000 to $500,000.

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