LINCOLNVILLE, Maine — A convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday in a remote Lincolnville cabin after he failed to provide his address for the Maine Sex Offender Registry.
Police received a tip last week that Clifford Mason, a 27-year-old transient from Portland, was staying at a home on the Atlantic Highway in Lincolnville, according to a news release issued Thursday by the Lincolnville Police Department.
But when Chief Ron Young went to the house, he didn’t find Mason. In the following days, the chief did receive reports that a man matching Mason’s description had been seen walking in the woods and hitchhiking near the Lincolnville-Camden town line.
Young heard Wednesday that smoke had been spotted coming from the site of a vacant cabin on Garey Mountain, property which is owned by the state of Maine and Camden Parks and Recreation.
The chief, Matthew Talbot of the Maine Department of Marine Patrol, and Bill Stewart of Camden Parks and Recreation hiked the mountain up to the cabin, where they found Mason preparing dinner.
He was arrested without incident, according to the news release.
Mason was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor in Augusta District Court in 2010. He was sentenced to nearly a year in jail, with all but 30 days suspended, and a year of probation. Mason is listed as a 10-year registrant of the Maine Sex Offender Registry. No further details about his case were available through the online registry.
According to the news release, he has twice failed to provide his address to the registry.
After being taken down the mountain, Mason was charged with a felony class C charge of failing to comply with the Maine Sex Offender Registry Act..
He remained in custody Thursday morning at Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset, with bail set at $200 secured.
When a sentence is suspended, that means it remains so as long as the convicted individual stays out of trouble. Failing to comply with the conditions of release not once but twice is grounds to make him serve the rest of the sentence. Why is he even given a cash bail? Though the amount is low enough to be a joke. This guy should be serving the remainder of his sentence.
Is math not your friend? He was sentenced in 2010 to a “Year” with all but 30 days suspended. After the ( stay with me here,) “Year” which would take us to 2011, the suspended sentence part is out.
Math was never my favorite subject much less my friend. But in this case, it was a failure to read the article more carefully. All the same, it was a joke of a sentence to begin with. I still do not understand why Maine judges are so easy on child molesters.
We don’t know anything about the case, He was convicted in 2010, so the case could have been from 2007, which would make him 22, and she could have been nearly 18. i am not condoning that either but we don’t know what exactly happened, nobody introduced the word molester besides you, they could have been longstanding boyfriend/girlfriend. The word assault is not even mentioned in the article.
There are constitutionality questions being raised in cases now in the Federal courts over the legality of these registration periods far beyond the original sentence, and we don’t know that he did anything except go camping by himself. Maybe our focus should be on getting him rehabilitative services to ensure no recidivism instead of sending out Ranger Rick to hunt him down like we’re in the Wild West.
If the man in question is/was a sex offender, there is no rehabilitation. Once an offender, always an offender. If, he was 22, and she nearly 18, you are right in that they could have been boyfriend/girlfriend.
I don’t agree with the sex registry at all. 20 somethings who have girlfriends not quite legal yet shouldn’t be on it. (I know we don’t know if that’s the case here). And actual pedophiles and child molesters reoffend whether they’re on the list or not. They should get life imprisonment in states that don’t have the death penalty. Otherwise they should be taken out behind the woodshed and shot.
Statute: 17-A MRSA (254)(1)(A)
Offense: Sexual abuse of minor
Statutory Description: Engage in a sexual act with another person, not the actor’s spouse, who is either 14 or 15 years of age and the actor is at least 5 years older than the other person.
Case #: CR 2009-02421
Court: 7th District Court Augusta
So probably not his girlfriend.
Found on the Maine Sex Offender Registry. Also to think that the search was over many agencies also suggests to me that it was more then statutory
Considering that all but 30 days was suspended makes me think that this case was questionable and probably a plea deal. As for the multiple agencies, can you say three good old boys with nothing to do in Camden? Not a lot of action there in November, great day for a hike.
$200 to be realeased!!!! wtf is that BS? it probably cost them $3000 to go find him. What a fricken joke Maine is becoming! I guess it is a CATCH & REALEASE STATE.
seems a no brainer that a transient would not provide his address…..not to be flip, but is “squatting in someone’s cabin in the woods” really an official address?