Teen Counselor Sex Trial

(Portland, Maine) A 27-year-old former drug counselor at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, Kristi Higgins, is on trial for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old male client.

From Portland Press Herald:

Kristi Higgins, formerly of Portland, has been charged with gross sexual assault, a felony that carries a punishment of up to five years in prison. Higgins is charged with having a sexual relationship in the fall of 2004 with a Long Creek resident who was just turning 16.

Higgins was 27 at the time, but the age difference is not a factor in the case, said Assistant District Attorney Deb Chmielewski.

Instead, Higgins has been charged with violating a provision of the law that prevents drug treatment providers from having sex with minors over whom they have "instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority."

Be it beyond me to infer bias on the part of the report and, rather, I'll assume the young 15-year-old was celebrating his birthday and Higgins decided to have sex with him in such a manner that the act started when he was 15 and coitus transpired through the moment when he turned 16. Otherwise, intentionally or unintentionally, I'd have to assume that the reporter was blending a personal thought into the story.

A little more disturbing is the fact that the DA kind of sloughs off the situation where an adult of 27 mixes it up sexually with a minor of 15. Chmielewski is prosecuting based on a specific provision of a state drug treatment law. What's with Maine? Aren't there laws making it illegal for adults to have sex with children?

Nonetheless, Higgins waived her right to a jury trial and the case is being heard by Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey. A bench verdict is expected soon.