Court lessens sex crimes ruling for former Maine Jehovah’s Witness elder
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The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has dismissed one of two sexual abuse convictions against a former Aroostook County Jehovah’s Witness elder, and asked for him to be resentenced on the other count.
Ernest Fyans, a former elder for Kingdom Hall Jehovah’s Witness in Fort Kent, was found guilty in September 2023 of gross sexual assault, a Class A felony, and unlawful sexual contact, which under Maine law is a Class B crime.
The ruling on Tuesday upholds the assault judgment but nullifies that of unlawful sexual contact. Judges said the statute of limitations that was in place at the time should have applied to the lesser charge, and therefore Fyans should not have been convicted. Fyans was given concurrent sentences, so the judicial court panel wants a new sentence for the assault conviction.
The charges stemmed from allegations that, between 1990 and 1992, Fyans sexually abused two children younger than 12 whose parents belonged to the Kingdom Hall in Fort Kent, according to court records.
The victim of the second count, unlawful sexual contact, first reported she had been abused in 2002 when she was 16, according to court records. At that time, a six-year statute of limitations prevented the state from seeking prosecution.
Investigators revisited the allegations in 2020, and Fyans was indicted in 2021.
Content retrieved from: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/08/19/aroostook/court-lessens-sex-crimes-ruling-ernest-fyans-former-maine-jehovahs-witness-elder/.
