PORTLAND, Maine — A Windham man convicted last month in Cumberland County Superior Court of photographing his sexual abuse of a 4-year-old girl he was babysitting and possession of child pornography was sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison.
A jury convicted Nicholas Gladu, 28, on 68 counts — one count each of unlawful sexual contact, sexual exploitation of a minor younger than 12 and visual sexual aggression against a child between August and October 2010, as well as 65 counts of possessing sexually explicit materials, according to a previously published report.
Gladu was sentenced to 28 years with all but 22 suspended on the unlawful sexual contact charge, Jennifer Ackerman, assistant district attorney for Cumberland County said Monday. In addition, he was sentenced to five years for possession of sexually explicit material that involved still photographs and five years for possession of sexually explicit material that had been recorded on video.
Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren ordered that Gladu serve the prison terms consecutively. The judge also sentenced Gladu to 18 years of probation.
Gladu pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
To be sentenced to prison, the jury had to have found him not only guilty of committing the crimes but also criminally responsible for them and sane at the time they took place.
If the jury had found Gladu not responsible for the crimes due to insanity, he would have been sent to the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta until he was deemed fit to be released by hospital staff.
Gladu was charged in February 2011 after a memory card was found with photographs of the assault and child pornography he had downloaded from the Internet, according to a previously published report.
Conditions of Gladu’s probation include no contact with children under the age of 16, no possession of sexually explicit materials, and sex offender treatment, according to the Portland Press Herald.
State law requires that he register as a sex offender for life after he is released from prison.
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