North Anson man with 10 days left on sentence escapes from home confinement

Police are looking for a North Anson man who escaped confinement with 10 days left of his two-year sentence.

The man, Jerome R. Cole, 37, was in the Supervised Community Confinement Program, which required him to remain in his place of residence and check in with supervisory officials, according to Scott Fish, director of special projects for the Maine Department of Corrections. The program is a way for prisoners to transition back to normal life towards the end of their sentence and must be applied for, Fish said Thursday.

He said Cole was reported missing Wednesday night and that his parole officer has been in touch with him via phone since then, although the phone does not have GPS, which would allow police to find him.

Cole was a resident of North Anson in 2011 when he was convicted of theft and forgery in Franklin County and six counts of forgery in Somerset County.

Police did not release his current residence to prevent possible attacks against people in the program, Fish said.

“One of the responsibilities of the corrections department is to maintain the safety of people that have gone through the system,” said Fish. He said that an incident in which a sex offender was on probation and was killed at his home is one example of the need to protect those within the corrections system.

Fish said escape from supervised community confinement is a class C felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison.

According to his profile on the Maine Department of Corrections website, Cole is 5 feet, 7 inches tall; weighs about 180 pounds; and has brown hair and blue eyes. He has tattoos on both his left and right forearms. Officials ask that anyone with information about him should call the Department of Corrections at 287-2711.

Rachel Ohm —  612-2368
[email protected]

Rachel Ohm —  612-2368
[email protected]

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