A Waterville man who died in prison Thursday was serving a sentence for forcing a 13-year-old neighbor into his Pine Street basement and raping her there on May 16, 2006, as well as for a later burglary that occurred in Washington County.

Donald Riley, 67, who also used the middle names Edwin and Edward, died at 2:15 p.m. Thursday at the Maine State Prison in Warren, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Corrections.

His death is being reviewed by the Maine State Police and the state medical examiner, and a spokesman for the latter said an autopsy was being performed Friday morning. There was no further information available about the death later Friday.

In 2009, Riley pleaded guilty to a charge of gross sexual assault in connection with the rape, and he was sentenced to serve an initial 5 1/2 years of a 15-year sentence.

The remainder of the sentence was suspended, and he was placed on six years of probation.

Riley also was given credit for the three years he had been held while the charge was pending.

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While he was out on that probation, he broke into a grocery store in Calais and was ordered returned to prison on June 1, 2014, to serve two years on the burglary conviction and the remaining 9 1/2 years on the gross sexual assault charge.

The prosecutor in the rape case, then-Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley, said the girl had been riding her bicycle in the neighborhood and entered Riley’s backyard after his son asked her to help him get his bicycle out of the mud.

“Don Riley came out of the basement, grabbed her arm and pulled her into the basement,” Kelley said.

The next day, the girl told a friend what happened. She was administered a sex-assault examination at Inland Hospital, and Waterville police investigated.

Riley initially told police there was mutual fondling through clothes, then admitted having intercourse with her, Kelley said.

At the hearing, the victim’s stepfather said the effect of the rape had torn the family apart.

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Riley’s attorney told the judge at the 2009 hearing that Riley had been treated for Parkinson’s disease and depression and had attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and sex-offender counseling.

Riley himself told the judge, “What I did was wrong, and I accept responsibility. I’m supposed to know better.”

Riley also had been convicted in 2002 of assault on an 11-year-old girl who was visiting his son.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

 


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