A veteran Maine state trooper has been sentenced to a five-year prison term and fined $5,000 for multiple sexual assaults on a four-year-old girl. Andrew Demers, Jr., who was twice awarded with “Trooper of the Year” and was highly respected by his community, admitted to the acts after his March arrest.
Demers agreed to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid a charge of gross sexual assault, which is a Class A felony that carries a 30-year prison sentence. The prosecutor in the case, Stephanie Anderson, requested an eight-year sentence. Demers tried to claim PTSD drove his actions, but this was rejected.
Walter McKee, who was Demers’ defense attorney, stated the trooper should receive a less severe punishment because he had already suffered a terrible blow to his reutation since his arrest, and his family had already endured intense heartache because of his actions. The attorney also said Demers had never engaged in the deviant behavior before and expressed concern for his safety inside of the prison system.
Demers sobbed openly in the courtroom and claimed he had been filled with shame since the incidents occurred. The judge replied that such crimes come from “a dark place” and are often “buried deep within.”