Man in teen grope case pleas out on alcohol charge

Donald St. Jean (Courtesy photo)

ALFRED, Maine - A Lebanon man who faced a slew of charges in the alleged groping of a 14-year-old Dover, N.H., girl last summer plea bargained down to a single alcohol charge last week in York County Superior Court.

Donald St. Jean, 61, of 62 Upper Middle Road, pleaded not guilty in Springvale District in September which had set up a possible trial in Alfred, but that all changed a week ago today when the plea agreement was reached during a pretrial docket call.

St. Jean pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of allowing a minor to possess and consume alcohol.

He had been charged with unlawful touching, possession of marijuana, serving to minors and possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.

St. Jean was alleged to have met the 14-year-old's stepsister, a 16-year-old, on a dating website, according to Maine State Police, who said the 16-year-old girl misrepresented her age as 20.

The two agreed to meet in Dover, with the younger girl unexpectedly tagging along to St. Jean's Lebanon home where they allegedly smoked pot, went three-wheeling and drank alcohol.

At some point, St. Jean allegedly touched the younger girl's covered buttocks, leading to the unlawful touching charge.

According to Maine State Police, St. Jean met the 16-year-old on a dating website and the two exchanged texts by cellphone over the next week leading to St. Jean's traveling to Dover to see her in person on July 26.

The two met at Dover's Woodman Park, where the 16-year-old was accompanied by her 14-year-old stepsister.

The three then went to St. Jean's Upper Middle Road mobile home, where they all then went three-wheeling before it is alleged St. Jean and the two girls smoked marijuana and drank alcohol supplied by St. Jean, according to State Police.

State Police say during the course of the afternoon the girls said St. Jean touched them through their clothing on their shoulders, back and legs, and at one point the 14-year-old said his hand brushed against her covered buttocks, leading to the unlawful sexual touching charge.

Reached shortly after the original arrest, St. Jean told The Lebanon Voice the whole mess was a result of "a lot of miscommunication."

State Police got involved in the case after the girls ran off from St. Jean's home and called Police from nearby Trains Quickstop.

The story they gave was that a man had picked them up in Dover, drugged them and taken them to his house.

State Police Sgt. Robert Nichols initially interviewed the pair and realized their story was shaky, he said, after which they admitted the visit to his house had been consensual.

Nichols also said it appears from the outset both the 16-year-old and St. Jean misrepresented their ages, St. Jean saying he mistakenly entered in 21 instead of 61 on the dating site and she saying she was 20 instead of 16.