SKOWHEGAN — A Skowhegan man was arrested Tuesday night on felony charges related to an alleged sexual assault on a woman in Skowhegan on Aug. 8.
John Jolly, 50, was arrested on a warrant based on a court affidavit charging him with gross sexual assault, a class A felony; and unlawful sexual contact, a class B felony, according to police.
Jolly is alleged to have assaulted a 32-year-old woman on West Front Street. The felony charges could put Jolly behind bars for up to 30 years if he is convicted.
Skowhegan police received a complaint from the woman Aug. 8.
Detectives were able to corroborate the victim’s statement and, after interviewing Jolly, obtained a warrant for his arrest, Detective Sgt. Josh King said. Jolly is being held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail, or $50,000 worth of property.
The Jolly case is the third felony sex offense handled by Skowhegan police in as many weeks.
Adam Cates, 27, was arrested July 29 and charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and sharing images of his illegal activity on a social media site. Cates was arrested after an investigation by Skowhegan police in cooperation with the State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the federal Department of Homeland Security. He is charged with sexual abuse of a minor, a class C felony; sexual exploitation of a minor, a class B felony; and possession of sexually explicit material, a misdemeanor. The felony charges could land him in jail for more than 10 years.
State, local and federal authorities carried out a search warrant at an apartment at 43 Silver St. after they got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that child exploitation images were being posted on Facebook.
Skowhegan police traced the internet protocol address to the Silver Street apartment and got a search warrant. During the ensuing investigation, police learned that Cates allegedly was sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Skowhegan.
In the third recent case, Jessica Lynn Wells, 29, was arrested Aug. 1 on two felony charges involving an alleged sexual assault on a 14-year-old boy. The charges allege sexual assault and sexual abuse of a boy for whose long-term care Wells was partly responsible. The crimes are alleged to have taken place July 13 in Skowhegan, according to court records.
Police were first alerted to the alleged assault on July 29 and investigated. The boy’s mother reportedly received a text message from him and alerted authorities.
A caseworker with the state Department of Health and Human Services conducted interviews in Skowhegan, according to court documents. A police officer sat in on the DHHS interviews, which were audio recorded, and in which Wells admitted the assaults, police said.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.