AUGUSTA — A Mount Vernon man who admitted to sexually assaulting a girl multiple times when she was 10 and 11 years old was sentenced Friday to six years in prison.
During his sentencing hearing, additional women came forth to claim they had also been sexually abused by him as well, more than 30 years ago.
Jeffrey W. Wiles
Jeffrey W. Wiles, 49, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but six years suspended, and 12 years of probation after pleading guilty to two Class B counts of unlawful sexual contact for sexually abusing a girl when she was 10 and 11 years old. That sentence means he’ll spend six years in prison, if he follows the conditions of his probation, but could have to serve the full 10-year sentence if he violates probation.
The now-adult victim said the sexual abuse actually began when she was only 4 years old, in Georgia, and continued until she was age 15. District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said the state focused on the assaults that occurred when she was 10 and 11 because those acts occurred in Maine where state prosecutors have jurisdiction.
“He’s the epitome of a pedophile,” said the victim, sometimes testifying through tears. She then said she was addressing Wiles directly, stating: “Why did you ruin my life, my childhood innocence? You’re the most fake person I’ve ever seen, a clown. You’ve fooled all these people into believing you’re living the perfect Christian life. Probably the one you’re not fooling is me. You can’t hurt me anymore.”
Maloney, who argued for a seven-year sentence, said Wiles sexually abused the girl several times a month, for many years, and in two states.
“This contact took place not one, not twice, not thrice, not four times, but more times every year than either of them can remember,” Maloney said.
She said after the assaults took place he would tell the girl that no one would understand their relationship and it should be their secret. No one else needed to know and talking about it would tear the family apart and he would be in jail.
The victim, whom the newspaper is not identifying because she is a victim of sexual abuse, said the abuse started when she was 4 and occured more times than she could remember, and she’d try to get him to stop because it hurt but he wouldn’t stop.
At Friday’s sentencing, two other women came forward to say Wiles had also sexually abused them when they were girls, more than 30 years ago, but they hadn’t reported that abuse to authorities.
“For 34 years I hid the shame about what he’d done,” one of the women said in court Friday. “I live with regret and guilt. Maybe if I hadn’t hidden what he’d done to me, maybe if I had told others, just maybe, that would have protected (the victim). Today we each are able to stand before you as strong women, and do what we were unable to do as little girls years ago. To stand up to him.”
The tall, white-haired Wiles took the stand to apologize to the victim and take responsibility for his actions, which his lawyer, Chris Nielsen, said he admitted to police because he wanted to take responsibility and wanted to avoid further trauma to the victim that could have occured if she had to testify at trial.
“Your honor I have committed horrible acts to (the victim), for that I am sorry,” Wiles said. “None of what I’ve done is (the victim’s) fault. I understand what I’ve done has hurt (the victim) greatly. I pray daily for God to watch over her and protect her. I hope my taking responsibility will help her heal. I also recognize the stress I’ve put on my family and the pain and hurt I’ve caused.”
Nielsen, his lawyer, said Wiles stopped abusing the girl years ago and has not reoffended since. And that he has worked hard to cure himself, gave back to his church and community, and after he was charged by police, voluntarily attended counseling, with two different counselors, both of whom testified about their time with Wiles in court.
“One thing Jeffrey has consistently done in the time we’ve spent together is he’s taken responsibility for his actions,” said Gary Turgeon, a licensed counselor who said he has seen Wiles once a week since spring. “He’s never tried to pass the buck. He’s said, ‘It’s my fault, I did this.’ His remorse, I think, has been genuine.”
Nielsen argued that Wiles should serve one year in prison, with the rest of the his 10-year sentence suspended.
Wiles was initially charged with one count of gross sexual assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact, both Class A, but those charges were dismissed in a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual contact, Class B. In Maine, Class A crimes are punishable by up to 30 years in prison while Class B crimes are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Superior Court Justice William Stokes said the accusations initially made against Wiles essentially amounted to rape, though that is not what the crimes are called under Maine law. He noted that without the plea agreement that dismissed the original Class A charges, Wiles would have been facing a basic sentence of 20 years, not 10.
“I don’t know of anything more egregious than to violate the integrity of a person’s body, a child’s body, by sexually abusing them,” Stokes said. “Repeatedly, over and over again. It’s really horrific behavior.”
Stokes said mitigating factors he considered in setting the sentence included that Wiles had no prior criminal record, that about 10 years ago he stopped the sexual abuse, that he expressed remorse and he admitted to his actions and sought counseling on his own.
He said aggravating factors included the young age of the victim; the lasting impact his crimes had on her; and that the abuse went on for about 10 years and occured month after month, year after year, and was not just a one-time event.
Stokes granted a defense motion to delay the start of Wiles’ prison sentence until Jan. 1, which Nielsen said would allow Wiles to tie up loose ends and be out of prison for the holidays.
Stokes told the victim she is courageous and said he would pray that she heals and has a happy life and urged her to remember she is better than the crimes committed against her.
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