State prosecutors are seeking an injunction against a Poland man accused of harassing his nephew because he’s gay.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint and injunction motion in Androscoggin County Superior Court against Kim Thurlow.

A complaint says Thurlow ran from his home to Sean Stanton’s nearby home, also in Poland, after Stanton threatened to call police one day in early August about ongoing harassment by Thurlow and his brother-in-law over Stanton’s sexual orientation.

Stanton revealed his sexual orientation to his family roughly five years ago.

Thurlow tried to break into Stanton’s home, according to the complaint. He tried to rip a screen door off the back of the house. He tried kicking the back door, punching the glass window in a door and pushing an air conditioner through Stanton’s bedroom window.

Stanton, 29, had seen Thurlow coming toward his house and had locked the doors.

As Thurlow sought to gain entry, he shouted, “Faggot.” Shortly before he left Stanton’s property, Thurlow yelled, “I’ll be back to take care of you later, you (expletive) fat faggot,” the complaint reads.

A deputy from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department investigated Stanton’s call to police. Thurlow told the deputy that, after hearing Stanton was going to call police, he had gone to Stanton’s home where he had pushed an air conditioner through Stanton’s bedroom window and kicked his back door repeatedly.

“He also admitted to calling the victim ‘faggot,’ and explained that he just does not agree with the victim’s being gay. He asserted that the victim deserved what was coming to him,” according to the complaint.

If granted by the court, the injunction under the Maine Civil Rights Act would bar Thurlow from using or threatening to use physical force against Sean Stanton.

A court order also would prohibit Thurlow from damaging Stanton’s property or trespassing, speaking to him, intimidating or harassing him or coming within 150 feet of his home.

And a court order would prohibit Thurlow from encouraging or causing anyone else to engage in those actions.

If Thurlow answers the motion for a preliminary injunction and contests it, a court hearing likely would be set, a clerk said.

If a judge were to order the injunction, Thurlow could be charged with a Class D misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000 if he were to violate the injunction knowingly.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department issued a summons to Thurlow for terrorizing, a misdemeanor, for the Aug. 5 incident, but the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office hadn’t charged Thurlow with that crime as of Tuesday.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link