FARMINGTON — A Franklin County justice ordered a convicted Rangeley man to undergo a psychological exam before deciding whether to amend his bail to allow him contact with his grandson and to own a cat.
Assistant District Attorney James Andrews told the court Friday that he opposes changing the bail to allow Carl Stowe Jr., 63, to have access to children.
Stowe requested his bail be amended to allow him to have a pet and have contact with his young grandson.
Stowe’s attorney, Woody Hanstein, told Justice Michaela Murphy on Friday that Stowe got out of prison in 2004 and has done well on probation.
Stowe was sentenced to serve five years of a 20-year sentence followed by 18 years of probation in March 2001. He was convicted of one count each of aggravated assault and terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and five counts of assault against a 7-year-old girl. His probation conditions include no contact with anyone under 18 and not owning pets.
The girl and her mother were staying with Stowe at his Rangeley Plantation home when he was arrested in July 2000.
Andrews, who prosecuted the case, said back then that the abuse to the child occurred between May 26 and July 16, 2000. He said in 2001 that it was the worst case of child abuse he had seen.
Andrews said then and on Friday that Stowe repeatedly beat the child and threatened her with an unloaded shotgun under her chin and dry-fired it. He threatened to kill a cat as part of terrorizing the child.
A medical examination determined that the child had a compression fracture of the 10th vertebrae of her spine, according to court testimony in 2001.
Stowe’s attorney then, Barbara Chassie, told the court in 2001 that Stowe was in poor health, suffered from mental illness and hadn’t been taking his medication.
Hanstein said Friday that things went so well for Stowe during probation that his probation officer filed to relax probation in 2006 but the motion was denied.
Five years has passed since then and he has been on probation for five more years, he said, and there has been no problems.
Stowe will be on probation until November 2022.
The people who worked with Stowe for his psychological treatment have retired and were not available to give references for him, Hanstein said. The agency he goes to would not go into any detail on his treatment, Hanstein said.
Stowe has shown remorse for his actions and is ashamed of his mistreatment of the child, Hanstein said.
Stowe’s girlfriend, Melodie Adams, said she has had a five-year relationship with him.
Since their relationship began, Stowe has influenced her to stop drinking and to lose weight.
Adams said she was abused when she was a child and would not put up with an abuser.
She would not come to court on Stowe’s behalf if she thought he would abuse again, Adams said.
She said that Stowe is a very kind and very loving person.
She loves animals and would love to have cat, and for Stowe and her to get to know his grandson, Adams said.
Stowe’s daughter, Samantha Stowe of Lewiston, said she would like her 5-year-old son to have contact with his grandfather. She would supervise visits.
She did not live with her father in 2000-2001, she said.
She and her father have resumed a close relationship, and though she only sees him about four times a year, they talk weekly.
Samantha Stowe said she valued her relationship with her father.
“He’s changed a bit since then,” she said. “I think it would be good for my son to know his grandfather.”
Her father doesn’t get angry like he did back then, he isn’t depressed and is more balanced, she said.
Hanstein said that if the court denied Carl Stowe’s request, there is no sense in coming back in five years for someone to say he still can’t have a cat or see his grandson.
Andrews said Stowe’s sentence was an unusual sentence because he severely abused and beat a very young girl to the point she was one bruise from one end to the other.
He was off his medicine and was delusional, Andrews said.
The reason for the long period of probation is that the court agreed Stowe is going to be a danger to society and is subject to going off his medicine, Andrews said. On probation he is supervised and his capabilities of hurting another child are limited.
Justice Murphy said she saw very little harm in allowing Stowe and his girlfriend to have a cat.
It would be supervised by his girlfriend, Murphy said.
That would be a way to get some information on how he is with animals, she said.
Justice Murphy said she would feel better if an evaluation was done on Stowe before she makes a decision.
She would also like to see a graduated plan developed so that he could have some contact with his grandchild, she said.
She did approve Stowe sending cards and presents to his grandson.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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