FARMINGTON — Justice Michaela Murphy sentenced a Westbrook man on Monday to serve 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a Franklin County girl under age 12 over a four-year period.

Steven Goozey, 39, a former police officer, was also ordered to serve eight more 10-year sentences at the same time as the initial 10-year sentence. She also ordered him to serve a consecutive 10-year sentence all suspended and six years probation after he is released from prison.

Goozey pleaded guilty to 10 counts of unlawful sexual contact in October. The offenses occurred between June 13, 2006, and May 30, 2010, according to the court.

Goozey was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 10 but the court ordered him to undergo a competency evaluation at Riverview Psychiatric Center.

The result of that evaluation was that Goozey was fit to proceed with sentencing as he possesses the basic skills necessary to assist in his defense, Justice Murphy said prior to sentencing Monday.

If the case went to trial the victim would have said the sexual touching occurred more than 20 times and Goozey, who was arrested in March, would have said about 10 times, according to court testimony.

State and defense attorneys had entered into a sentence agreement calling for counts one through nine to be an open sentence of up to 10 years maximum for each count, and for count 10, a 10-year sentence all suspended and six years of probation.

Justice Murphy asked several questions prior to handing down her ruling. She asked when Goozey was a police officer?

Assistant District Andrew Robinson said he was a police officer in Carrabassett Valley from June 24, 2010, to Sept. 9, 2010.

Carrabassett Valley police Chief Scott Nichols said previously Goozey was terminated for reasons not related to the case.

The abuse had stopped by the time Goozey took the 100-hour police training course in 2010, Robinson said, but there was still a betrayal of trust.

Goozey had threatened the child and told her not to tell anyone, Robinson said.

Goozey created a nightmare for the child and her family, he said. He asked the court to sentence Goozey to 10 years.

Two Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services advocates read letters from the victim’s family including her father and grandmother. All asked the court to sentence Goozey to the maximum time allowed.

In the victim’s father’s letter, he said his daughter “is a beautiful girl whose innocence has been heinously stolen.”

He also said he felt he failed because he didn’t protect her from the abuse.

Other family members said through letters that Goozey caused the victim not to trust and took away her childhood.

Woody Hanstein, Goozey’s attorney, said that what they don’t know is why after 35 years of being a law-abiding citizen, Goozey got his wires crossed. He stopped the conduct himself because he knew it was wrong nearly a year before it was revealed, Hanstein said. Goozey also admitted to police that he had done what he was accused of, Hanstein said, and prevented the child from going through a trial.

Justice Murphy said the aggravating factors in the case outweigh the mitigating factors. She said that one option she had was not to accept the sentencing agreement and use the court’s authority to sentence Goozey to more than 10 years in jail.

But rejecting the agreement would also mean the child would have to testify at a trial, she said. She agreed to stay within the perimeters of the agreement but set the sentencing at the maximum 10 years.

Besides prison time, Goozey was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life as required by law, undergo sexual abuse counseling, and to have no contact with the victim or specific members of the victims’ family during his prison and probation time.

He was also ordered to have no contact with anyone under age 18 once he is released from prison.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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