Seth Carey says his accuser wants to murder him

Former district attorney candidate Seth Carey said this week that there is “a real danger” that the woman who lodged criminal charges brought against him will kill him.

The Rumford District Court granted a protection from abuse order to Carey on Tuesday that requires the woman to stay away from him and bars her from possessing a firearm.

Seth Carey Orange County, Florida Jail photo

Carey, a 46-year-old Rumford lawyer with a suspended license, was arrested in March in Florida on a warrant that charged him with two felonies — attempted gross sexual assault and attempted aggravated sex trafficking — and three misdemeanors, unlawful sexual contact, domestic assault and engaging in prostitution.

The charges stem from a complaint by a 34-year-old woman who reported in 2018 that Carey had sexually assaulted her, police said. Carey denies any wrongdoing.

Witnesses told police this month that the same woman approached Carey on May 16 after a soccer game in Rumford and screamed at him that she would shoot him if he ever got near her children again. The two children were apparently playing in the game, though Carey said he never knew that.

When she initially approached him, Carey said, “I had no idea who this crazy person was.”

But when he figured it out, he said, he took her threat to kill him seriously and sought a protection order, which a judge granted.

Because the woman, who could not be reached, is accusing Carey of sexual assault, the Sun Journal is not naming her.

Carey said the woman “has abused me and torn my life apart” with what he called “a groundless accusation” that led to the suspension of his professional career, the loss of a district attorney race in 2018 and ultimately the criminal charges that landed him in jail for nine days in March. There is no date set for his trial.

“This protection from abuse” order, Carey said, “shows what the truth is and I appreciate it, but a piece of paper will not stop anyone who truly is mentally unstable and has access to guns.”

“Her actually following through with her threat to kill me is a real danger and I pray that she finds help and can find a way to stop her pattern of abusing every person that crosses her path,” he said.

The police officer investigating the incident at the soccer field could not reach the woman for her version of events. She did not show up at court to contest Carey’s bid for a protective order.