AUGUSTA — A Clinton man who police say was armed with a gun when he was arrested has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually assaulted a woman and endangered a child over two days last December.
At his arraignment Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta, Silvestre P. Frutuoso, 52, pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful sexual contact, unlawful sexual touching, domestic violence assault, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and endangering the welfare of a child
Frutuoso is accused of subjecting the woman to sexual touching Dec. 5, 2019, and sexual contact, including penetration, Dec. 6, 2019, at his Clinton house.
The alleged victim told police that when Frutuoso came home from work Dec. 5, he was acting like he was drunk and falling back and forth. When she tried to help him to bed, he started to grope her, according to an affidavit filed by Erik Maheu, a Clinton patrol officer who responded to the house Dec. 6.
The alleged victim told police that on the morning of Dec. 6, she came into a room occupied by a naked Frutuoso, who was again acting like he was drunk. She told police he pushed her against a wall and started to kiss her. When she pushed him away, he put one hand up her shirt and one down her pants, according to the affidavit.
The woman told Frutuoso she wanted him to stop, but he picked her up, dragged her into his room and pushed her onto the bed, according to court documents.
Frutuoso then started ripping off the woman’s clothes until she kneed him and ran to another room, grabbing her daughter on the way, according to police.
Frutuoso then entered that room with a gun held to his head, and sexually assaulted the woman, according to the affidavit.
When Maheu arrived at the house, the woman’s mother told him Frutuoso had fired the gun. Police said they later found an empty shell casing on the garage floor and a bullet hole through a sliding door made of plywood.
Frutuoso was at the house when police arrived. And when he turned to look at Maheu, he was holding a gun, according to police.
The officer drew his gun, pointed it at Frutuoso and told him to put his gun down. The affidavit states Frutuoso did not comply until after he was asked multiple times to put down the gun.
The unlawful sexual contact charge is the most serious of the allegations, a Class B offense that Justice William Stokes noted is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Frutuoso, who remained Thursday at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, pleaded not guilty to all five charges against him. Lawyer Stephen Bourget in Augusta has been appointed to represent him.
The Kennebec Journal’s policy is to not identify the victims of alleged sexual assaults without their permission.
The domestic violence assault charge involves a different alleged victim, whom he allegedly grabbed by her shirt collar, ripping it.
The two other charges allege Frutuoso on Dec. 6, 2019, recklessly created a substantial risk of bodily injury to the first victim and her daughter, and recklessly endangered the health, safety or welfare of a child.
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