A Richmond man who was indicted in June on a dozen charges stemming from an investigation of an underage drinking party pleaded guilty to six of them earlier this month at the West Bath courthouse.
Jeffrey Tilton
Jeffery T. Tilton, 56, pleaded guilty to witness tampering — a felony — as well as two counts of assault, two counts of furnishing liquor to a minor and unlawful sexual touching, all misdemeanor charges.
Six other misdemeanor charges — domestic violence terrorizing, two counts of unlawful sexual touching, indecent conduct, assault and furnishing liquor to a minor — were dropped.
Sagadahoc Assistant District Attorney A.J. Chalifour said there were four victims, and there is a representative charge for each of them.
Sentencing is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. March 3 in the courthouse in West Bath.
Roger Katz, who is representing Tilton, said his client feels terrible about what happened.
“He has taken significant steps in his life to make sure these incidents will be behind him,” Katz said.
The sentencing hearing will provide an opportunity to give a picture from Tilton’s perspective about the appropriate result, he said.
If they choose, the victims may also provide impact statements at that time. Chalifour said it’s very likely they will.
Richmond police arrested Tilton in May, initially on charges of terrorizing and sexual exploitation of a minor.
At that time, Richmond Police Chief Scott MacMaster said when Tilton became aware of the investigation, he allegedly contacted a 17-year-old boy and used threatening language to urge him to take the blame for the alcohol at the party. While investigating that complaint, MacMaster said, Richmond police became aware that Tilton allegedly solicited inappropriate photos of a 15-year-old girl. He said no photos were taken.
In June, a Sagadahoc grand jury indicted Tilton on 12 charges, alleging that on occasions dating back to January 2019, Tilton had furnished alcohol to three minors and subjected them to sexual touching and assault and exposed himself to one of the minors. The assaults allegedly occurred in Richmond.
The indictment also charged Tilton with tampering with a witness and domestic violence terrorizing on the day he was initially arrested. Knowing about the police investigation, Tilton intimidated a witness in an effort to get the witness to lie to investigators, the indictment alleges.
Under Tilton’s bail conditions, he’s allowed to be on his property when certain persons aren’t there and for work, Chalifour said.
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