AUGUSTA — A city man is charged with sexually assaulting a girl in Augusta more than five years ago when he was 19 and she was around 7 years old.

Eric Say, now 24, was arrested by Augusta police early Friday morning on a warrant and held in lieu of $50,000 bail until an initial court hearing later that day at the Capital Judicial Center.

The complaint charges him with gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact with a child under 12 that allegedly occurred in the period of April 1, 2011 to May 31, 2012, and involved the same victim.

According to an affidavit by Augusta police Detective Tori Tracy that was filed in court, the investigation began when Augusta police were contacted by an officer with the Palm Springs Police Department in Florida who said the girl and her father reported on Oct. 29, 2015, that the girl had been raped by Say while she was living in Augusta.

A later interview with the Child Protection Team in Palm Beach County, Florida, indicated the sexual assaults had occurred in Say’s room.

Tracy wrote that she interrogated Say in May 2016 at his home.

“Eric told me he had done something really bad” to the girl, the detective wrote, adding that “Eric explained that he knew it was wrong and that he never should have done it.”

Bail at his arrest was set at $50,000. A judge at the Capital Judicial Center set bail at $2,500 cash on Friday with conditions that prohibit him from having contact with girls under 16.

Assistant District Attorney David Spencer said he understood Say’s family could post that bail. Say’s next hearing date is March 21, 2017.

In a separate case also handled Friday at the Capital Judicial Center, Cory Clark, 30, of Windsor, pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned on an indictment charging him with unlawful sexual contact that allegedly occurred Jan. 1-31, 2016, in Windsor, with a girl less than 14.

The indictment was handed up in September by a grand jury in Kennebec County, but Clark was arrested Wednesday.

Clark was represented Friday by Stephen Bourget, one of the lawyers of the day.

Judge Paul Mathews set bail for Clark at $2,500 cash, the amount requested by the state, and imposed conditions that include no contact with the named victim or girls under 16. Spencer said Clark has no criminal history.

Bourget said Clark thinks he may be able to post that with help from family and friends.

His next court hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2017. Clark, through Bourget, told the judge he intends to retain attorney Thomas Nale to represent him.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

Copy the Story Link