By Trevor Maxwell
The Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND, Maine — A longtime Cumberland firefighter pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release, in exchange for the dismissal of charges of assault and unlawful sexual touching.
Craig Rawnsley was fined $1,000 and sentenced to two days in jail, which he has already served.
Rawnsley, 42, was accused of sex crimes by two teenage girls who participated in Cumberland’s youth firefighter training program.
He was acquitted in September on the charges brought in connection with the first alleged victim, who said she and Rawnsley had sex eight times in the spring and early summer of 2008. The girl said she was 15 when the sexual relationship started.
Jury selection for the second trial was set for Monday, but Rawnsley’s lawyer, Thomas Hallett, agreed on a plea deal with Assistant District Attorney Matt Tice.
Hallett said the plea confirmed what he has been saying all along — that Rawnsley is not guilty of any sex crimes.
''The sex charges have all been dismissed. Those allegations were false,’' Hallett said after the hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court. ''This was just a terrible ordeal for my client. Now he gets his life back, and hopefully his job.’'
Hallett said it was a tough decision for Rawnsley to accept the plea, rather than take the case to trial.
But while Rawnsley maintains his innocence on the sex charges, he realized that it would have been risky to go through another trial, Hallett said.
There was also the potential for a third trial, on the charges of disorderly conduct and violating the conditions of his release.
''Quite frankly, this was too good a deal to look the other way,’' Hallett said.
Tice said the plea was appropriate because it ''gave some finality to this case, which is good for everyone involved.
''Mr. Rawnsley can put whatever spin he wants on these convictions, but the fact remains that he now stands convicted of two crimes involving these young women,’' Tice said. ''These victims and Mr. Rawnsley know the full extent of the circumstances leading up to these charges and I suggest that Mr. Rawnsley do some serious soul-searching as he moves forward.’'
The charges of disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release stem from two incidents in which Rawnsley allegedly had contact with the two teenage girls after his arrest in the fall of 2008. Those incidents were not sexual.
At Monday’s hearing, Rawnsley entered a special type of guilty plea - known as an Alford plea — on those charges.
In an Alford plea, the defendant acknowledges that a jury could find him guilty based on the state’s evidence but still denies any wrongdoing.
At the time of his arrest, Rawnsley was a volunteer captain with the Cumberland Fire Department. He was also a full-time firefighter in Portland, where he remains on unpaid administrative leave.
Rawnsley will seek reinstatement to his job in Portland, Hallett said.
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