Consultations by Appointment Only
Sex offense cases out of Saco are heard at the York Judicial Center in Biddeford, and most of them begin long before a charge is filed. If a detective has contacted you, that call is the moment to speak to a Saco sex crime lawyer not after an interview.
A former Maine Assistant District Attorney on our team
Felony defense in all 16 Maine counties
Offices in Kennebunk, Brunswick and Portland
Confidential. Reviewed by an attorney, not an intake service.
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Unlike most charges, these cases often start with an investigation rather than an arrest. Saco detectives may ask you to come in for a conversation, and that conversation is evidence. People talk themselves into charges trying to clear things up. You are entitled to decline until you have a lawyer, and declining is not an admission.
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The exposure depends entirely on which offense is charged. Gross sexual assault is Class A or B; unlawful sexual contact and unlawful sexual touching sit lower. The difference between them turns on specific facts, and getting the charge right is often the first fight in the case. Gross sexual assault compared with unlawful sexual touching
Messages, images, app history and phone extractions carry most of these cases now. What was deleted is often recoverable, and what was never said matters as much as what was. Preserving your own record early can be as important as challenging the government’s.
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A conviction for certain offenses carries a registration requirement under Maine’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which runs for a set period and is separate from any sentence. It is one of the reasons the name of the charge matters so much at the outset. What the Maine registry involves
Maine’s most serious sex offense, charged at Class A or B depending on the circumstances alleged. gross sexual assault
Contact alleged without consent. The class turns on the facts and the age of the person involved. unlawful sexual contact
A lesser charge than contact, but still a sex offense on your record. unlawful sexual touching
Where age rather than consent decides the offense. Maine’s age of consent rules are not intuitive. the age of consent in Maine
Charged on age alone, which means a belief about age is rarely a defense in itself. statutory rape allegations
Possession and distribution of child pornography charges are usually built on a forensic examination of devices. Maine sex crime defense
A university investigation can run alongside a criminal one, on different rules and a lower standard. Title IX investigations
What a conviction would require afterwards, and for how long. the Maine registry explained
| York Judicial Center, 515 Elm Street, Biddeford, ME 04005 |
York Judicial Center, 515 Elm Street, Biddeford, ME 04005
Protection from abuse
| York Judicial Center, 515 Elm Street, Biddeford (York County) |
| Saco Police, 20 Storer Street |
| 119 Main Street, Kennebunk |
Saco, Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach cases start at the York Judicial Center in Biddeford for arraignment and stay there for the rest of the case. If you need a sex crime lawyer near Old Orchard Beach, Maine, or a sex crime defense attorney in Biddeford, Maine, our Kennebunk office is nearby.
We do not keep an office in Saco. The nearest is on Main Street in downtown Kennebunk, about twelve miles south on Route 1, in the same county and the same courthouse as your case. Portland, at 19 Commercial Street, is about sixteen miles north.
Call 207-571-8146 before you agree to an interview. If you have already spoken to an investigator, call anyway it is recoverable far more often than people assume.
Often the longest phase, and the one where the most can be done. Decisions made here shape whether a charge is brought at all.
If a charge follows, conditions are set on release — frequently including no contact and restrictions on where you can be.
Felony matters are presented to a York County grand jury before the case proceeds to trial.
The state’s file statements, forensic reports, device extractions. These cases turn on the detail in it.
The prosecutor and the defense discuss the case before any trial date is set.
Challenges to a search, a statement or an expert’s method are argued before trial.
Founder and Managing Attorney William T. Bly is a seasoned trial lawyer with two decades of experience defending clients in Maine state and federal courts against charges ranging from OUI and drug trafficking to manslaughter and serious sexual assault, drawing on advanced training from Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College.
With nearly 25 years of experience as a former Maine Assistant District Attorney, seasoned trial attorney, and winning appellate advocate before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Attorney Feldman now brings rigorous preparation, an educator’s clarity, and nonjudgmental compassion to his criminal defense clients.
The York Judicial Center at 515 Elm Street in Biddeford, about three miles from downtown Saco. Felony matters go before a York County grand jury first.
No. You are not required to, and declining is not evidence of anything. These interviews are recorded and used, and they are the single most common way a case gets worse before a lawyer is ever involved.
Certain convictions carry a registration requirement for a set period under Maine’s registration act. Which offense is charged determines whether it applies, which is why the charge itself is the first thing to fight. What the Maine registry involves
Yes, and sometimes before any charge is filed. Cases fall apart on timelines, on digital records that contradict the account, and on how an interview was conducted.
Longer than most. Forensic examination of devices alone can take months, and these cases are rarely resolved quickly.
Say nothing about it to anyone other than a lawyer, preserve your own messages and records rather than deleting anything, and call 207-571-8146.
Saco cases are heard at the York Judicial Center in Biddeford, on the same list as our Kennebunk and Biddeford matters. You can talk through what you are facing with a Saco sex crime lawyer at a consultation, in confidence. Fill in the form or call 207-571-8146, or email info@notguiltyattorneys.com.
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