FARMINGTON — A Phillips man pleaded guilty to a felony charge of gross sexual assault as part of a plea agreement Friday in Franklin County Superior Court.
Robert Parker Jr., 44, also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child as part of the agreement which dismissed eight other charges.
He is accused of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 12. The incidents occurred from June 22 to Sept. 22, 2013, Assistant District Attorney James Andrews told the court.
Parker will be held without bail until sentencing, which awaits completion of a sex offender evaluation.
Parker previously pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of gross sexual assault and misdemeanor charges of one count of terrorizing, two counts of endangering a child, and one count each of harassment by telephone and violating condition of release.
He was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in January.
Parker was also accused of threatening to kill the child and harassing family members by sending texts with explicit descriptions of what he would do to the child. He was also accused of giving cigarettes to the child and another youth under the age of 15.
Justice Nancy Mills told Parker a conviction on the felony charge that he pleaded guilty to normally carries a maximum of 30 years, but this time it could amount to any number of years in jail and up to $50,000 in fines. Conviction on the misdemeanor charge is a maximum of 364 days and up to $2,000 in fines.
The state is seeking a cap of an eight-year sentence with supervised release for 15 years, Andrew said.
The plea agreement does not dispose of any potential charges involving other children, he said. Those are still under investigation.
Parker will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
He told Mills that he agreed to the plea agreement because “I felt the state had enough evidence to prove me guilty.”
If the case had gone to trial, Andrews said an officer at the Windham correctional facility would produce a letter, apparently written by Parker and intercepted by jail officials, that indicated his admission to engaging in the sexual acts.
Parker’s attorney, Walter Hanstein, had motioned to suppress the letter evidence but withdrew the motion as part of the plea agreement.
A roommate at the correctional facility would also testify that Parker talked about forcing a child, under age 12, to have sex with him, Andrews said.
abryant@sunjournal.com
-
- Robert Parker Jr.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
