SKOWHEGAN — A Nokomis Regional High School music teacher charged with eight counts of domestic violence, including three felony charges, remains free on bail following an initial court appearance Wednesday.

In asking a Superior Court judge for higher bail for Andrew B. Maderios, 28, of Pittsfield, District Attorney Maeghan Maloney called him a continuing threat to his former live-in girlfriend, whom he allegedly beat, bruised and strangled until she lost consciousness in a series of incidents that began the day after Christmas.

Some of the alleged assaults were caught on audio from the victim’s cellphone, according to court records.

Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen doubled the $5,000 bail set after Maderios’ arrest to $10,000, less than the $25,000 sought by Maloney who said she asked for the higher bail because Maderios had threatened to kill the victim.

“I would have liked a higher bail because I’m worried about the potential for future homicide,” the district attorney said. “My perspective is looking out for the safety of the community, the victim and her children, but I understand the judge’s decision.”

She said Maderios ranks high on two assessments to determine how dangerous a potential abuser is.

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Maderios did not enter a plea Wednesday. He is free pending arraignment Sept. 17 unless indicted by a grand jury before then, his lawyer, Leonard Sharon of Auburn, said outside the courtroom.

Sharon said Maderios is allowed to go back to the home he owns in Pittsfield, but is to have no contact with the victim or her children, ages 11 and 16.

Sharon said Maderios intends to vigorously defend himself against the charges and does not have a criminal record.

In a court affidavit filed in support of a warrant for Maderios’ arrest, domestic violence investigator James Ross said Maderios’ girlfriend told him July 7 she had been attacked over the past two years. She said she began documenting the assaults with audio recordings of Maderios on her cellphone and with photographs she took of her injuries.

On Dec. 26, she locked herself in their home’s bathroom after a disagreement, according to the affidavit. She told Ross that Maderios used a metal rod to pop the lock and strangled her until she passed out. When she woke up she tried to call 911, but Maderios allegedly smashed the phone and she attempted to run away.

“The (victim) told me that Andrew Maderios began to slap her face and mouth and then covered her mouth when she began to scream,” Ross wrote in the affidavit. “(She) told me that this caused her to see spots and vomit. Andrew Maderios then stuffed dirty underwear into her mouth.”

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The abuse allegedly continued into the following day, Dec. 27, when Maderios allegedly told the woman to “take your last breath because you are going to die,” according to court documents.

Maderios almost always placed his hands around the woman’s neck and squeezed, Ross wrote. Maderios allegedly told her the abuse was her fault, because “you make me do these things to you.”

The domestic violence continued in January, March and on July 4, according to court documents.

Maloney, who was in court Wednesday, said Maderios registers high on two danger assessments, including the Campbell assessment, a scale devised by a Johns Hopkins University professor to evaluate the danger faced by a victim of domestic violence in a relationship.

In the Campbell assessment, Mederios ranked near the top level for being a high risk for future domestic violence, Maloney said.

“It’s predictive of future lethality — meaning it’s predictive of potential homicide,” Maloney said. “I’m extremely concerned, given the death threats.”

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On another assessment,the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment, which was adopted by the Maine Legislature as an evidence-based measure for future behavior, Maderios registered as a person having a 60 percent chance of committing another domestic violence assault in the next five years, Maloney said.

Danger assessment is an instrument that helps to determine the level of risk an abused woman has of being killed by her intimate partner, according to the web site www.dangerassessment.org. The tool was originally developed by Jacquelyn Campbell in 1986 in consultation with battered women, shelter workers, law enforcement officials and clinical experts on battering, according to the website.

Maloney said with domestic violence cases on the rise in Maine, all cases of abuse of partners must be taken seriously.

“There is no such thing as a routine domestic violence case,” she said. “However, if there was such a thing, this one is completely different because we have the tapes so we can listen to them ourselves and we’ve got pictures — it’s different when you can hear it.

“In her statement, I quoted the victim saying on July 4 … where she quotes him as saying, ‘you need to die'”.

In court Wednesday, Sharon noted that the alleged victim allowed her daughter to attend an educational trip overseas with Maderios in early July and did not see him as a threat to the girl. Maderios was a chaperone for the trip.

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Based on the complaints against him in Maine, Maderios was taken into custody when the group got off the plane in Atlanta, Ga. His most recent address was in Plaistow, N.H.

Gregory G. Potter, superintendent of Regional School Unit 19, which includes Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, said Maderios is on paid leave from his job pending the outcome of the charges against him. Classes resume at the school on Aug. 27.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Doug_Harlow


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