FARMINGTON — A Franklin County jury found a Farmington man guilty Wednesday on three charges, including gross sexual assault, after a 2 1/2-day trial and about an hour of deliberation at the Superior Court.
Cory J. Hutchinson, 38, was found guilty of gross sexual assault, aggravated criminal trespass and domestic violence assault from an incident involving a former girlfriend. He faces up to 30 years in prison on the gross sexual assault charge. The other two charges carry a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail to five years in prison.
Hutchinson was taken into custody in the courtroom and taken to the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington pending a bail hearing.
The victim testified that she and Hutchinson had a relationship that was good in the beginning and turned bad towards the end. She was done with Hutchinson but he kept talking her into getting back together, according to testimony.
The victim told the court that Hutchinson used physical force, including holding her by the neck, to hold her in place while he sexually assaulted her on Dec. 16, 2023. She testified that Hutchinson had ripped off her clothes and underwear, which was in pieces when Franklin County Detective David St. Laurent opened the evidence envelope on the witness stand.
After Hutchinson left the residence, the victim said, she called her ex-husband and he told her to go to the hospital. The ex-husband testified that the victim was crying and was distraught when he arrived at the hospital in Farmington.
St. Laurent said he was called by Sgt. Austin Couture about a sexual assault. They both went to the Farmington hospital to meet with the victim.
Hutchinson’s DNA was found on the victim, Assistant District Attorney Ellex St. Pierre said in her closing argument. A hospital staff member also testified that she saw red marks on the woman’s neck when she arrived at the emergency room.
Hutchinson was also charged in a prior incident on Dec. 2, 2023, for kicking in the door to the woman’s house and entering after he was previously told to leave. He grabbed his phone from her hands after she told her son to record what was happening.
The woman had testified that both she and her son were terrified for their safety when the door was being kicked in.
The ex-husband testified that when the door was kicked in the frame had shattered. He fixed the door for his ex-wife.
Defense attorney John Pelletier called Mark Lopez, police chief of the Carrabassett Valley Police Department, to testify Tuesday regarding an incident in October 2023.
The victim had reported to dispatch that she needed help after Hutchinson threw a backpack at her and was tearing up a room at the Sugarloaf hotel. Lopez said he expected to see the room in disarray but found that it was not.
Pelletier said the victim exaggerated in that case, and did again when describing the incidents on Dec. 2 and 16.
She was trying to “make Cory look bad,” Pelletier told the jury in his closing arguments.
HOW TO GET HELP
IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you can call 1-800-871-7741 for free and confidential help 24 hours a day.
TO LEARN more about sexual violence prevention and response in Maine, visit the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault website.
IF YOU or someone who you is struggling with a mental health crisis, you can also call the Maine Crisis Line 24 hours a day at 1-888-568-1112.
FOR MORE information about mental health services in Maine, visit the website for the state’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
