AUBURN — A former Auburn music teacher convicted Friday of two federal sex crimes surrendered to U.S. marshals and is being held pending his September sentencing date.

James Raymond Jr., 29, was found guilty by a judge in U.S. District Court in Portland on two counts of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Raymond had been staying at his home on Cook Street leading up to and during the trial. Shortly after his conviction, a prosecutor filed a motion with the court to have Raymond held without bail.

According to a prosecutor’s statement, court personnel were unable to reach Raymond’s attorney Friday to take part in a conference on the prosecutor’s motion ordering Raymond to be detained. In the statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff wrote that convicted defendants such as Raymond are required to be detained until sentencing unless they qualify under one or more of two exceptions: a “substantial likelihood that a motion for acquittal or new trial will be granted;” and “the judicial officer finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to any other person or the community.”

Raymond’s conviction followed a four-day trial at which he and his 14-year-old victim testified. A judge determined that Raymond touched the girl’s buttocks repeatedly while waiting for a ride at Canobie Lake amusement park in Salem, N.H., in 2007. Raymond took his 11-year-old student and her 9-year-old sister to the park twice during that summer. Judge D. Brock Hornby said Raymond didn’t touch the girl accidentally, but for sexual gratification. Hornby also said Raymond arranged the circumstances of the trip to provide an opportunity for him to carry out those actions.

Raymond faces from 10 years to life in federal prison on each of the two counts.


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