WARREN — The Department of Corrections reported that inmate George Henry O’Donnell of Jay died Friday morning at the Maine State Prison.
O’Donnell, 79, died at approximately 3 a.m., according to spokesman Scott Fish. According to department policy and the Attorney General’s Office protocols, state police and the state medical examiner were notified.
At the time of his death, O’Donnell had served approximately four months of a 30-month sentence for unlawful sexual contact. He received an eight-year sentence with all but 30 months suspended on Oct. 13, 2013, in Kennebec County Superior Court. He was scheduled to be released on March 11, 2016, followed by eight years of probation.
O’Donnell, who used a wheelchair, had pleaded guilty in May 2013 to three charges of unlawful sexual contact, but remained free as he dealt with medical problems, including the aftermath of a stroke and two heart attacks.
Prosecutors said some of the offenses occurred while O’Donnell was in a motorized wheelchair and the girls, ages 6 and 7, were riding on his lap.
O’Donnell apologized in court, saying a stroke affected him and he “didn’t do it intentionally.”
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- George Henry O’Donnell.
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