Lawrence High teacher accused of unlawful sexual contact, possession of child porn

by: Alex Barber

sunjournal

A teacher at Lawrence High School of Fairfield was arrested on Tuesday and charged with five felonies related to child pornography and unlawful sexual contact with a child under the age of 12.

David Morissette, 44, of Winslow was charged with two counts of Class B unlawful sexual contact, two Class C counts of possession of child pornography and a Class C charge of sexual misconduct with a child under the age of 14, Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said on Wednesday.

The female child is a relative of Morissette, she said, and the child disclosed what had happened.

Police executed a search warrant on Morissette’s school laptop and iPad and found child pornography, according to Maloney.

Morissette allegedly showed pornography to the girl. The child pornography was not of the girl, she said. The unlawful sexual contact and sexual misconduct charges relate to the girl. All of the incidents took place in Winslow.

“We made contact with his attorney, Robert Sandy, to make arrangements to turn himself in,” said Maloney.

Morissette turned himself in at Kennebec County Jail in Augusta on Tuesday.

Morissette appeared before Judge Charles Dow in Waterville District Court through video from the jail on Wednesday, but was not asked to make a plea.

Bail was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 surety. Morissette has posted bail and been released from jail.

“Our plan is to move very quickly on this case,” said Maloney. “This is very upsetting. These charges are always upsetting that someone would do this to a child.”

Morissette faces up to 10 years in prison on the Class B charges and up to five years in prison on the Class C charges. A maximum fine for a Class B charge is $20,000 and a Class C charge is $5,000.

It’s the second arrest in the past week that involved teachers and child pornography.

Last Thursday, Patrik Ian Arsenault, 27, was arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting two children and distributing the assault on the Internet.

He was charged with two counts of Class A gross sexual assault and also faces federal charges of sexual exploitation for videotaping the alleged assaults on two boys, ages 6 and 7.

Arsenault had been a teacher at Wayne Elementary School and was supposed to start at W.G. Mallett Elementary School in Farmington in the upcoming school year as a special education teacher in kindergarten through grade three, according to Maloney.

“I am meeting with parents in the Wayne school district on Tuesday to answer any questions they have,” said Maloney. “If schools are hearing from parents and want me and/or detectives to come to talk with parents about the case, I’m more than happy to do that.”

Maloney stressed that, in both cases, the alleged perpetrators knew the victims outside of school.

This article was written by Alex Barber and originally published on sunjournal