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Strong man charged with sexual assault

3 mins read
Christopher Burnham (Photo courtesy of Franklin County Detention Center)

CHESTERVILLE – A man has been arrested on charges associated with the alleged sexual assault of a woman on the Adams Road last month.

Christopher Burnham, 31 of Strong, was arrested Friday on a charge of gross sexual assault, a Class B felony, as well as misdemeanor violating conditions of release. The arrest follows an investigation by the Livermore Falls Police Department and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office into an assault that allegedly occurred in Chesterville.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by FCSO Det. Kenneth Charles with the Franklin County court, LFPD began investigating the alleged incident after a woman reported that Burnham, with which she previously had a relationship, had met her at a friend’s residence in Livermore Falls on April 17. Burnham reportedly gave the woman an open Twisted Tea alcoholic beverage. After she drank the beverage, the woman told police, her memory was limited until she “came to” in Burnham’s car on a trail in an unknown location.

The woman told police that she was wearing men’s pants and a shirt; she was unable to find her own clothing. She said she was sick the next day.

On April 22, the woman received a copy of a Facebook message from a friend. In that message, Burnham reportedly told the friend that he had “drugged [the woman] and got her drunk,” then had sex with her without her knowledge.

LFPD Officer Troy Reed was investigating, due to the initial point of contact between Burnham and the woman allegedly occurring in Livermore Falls. Reed and the woman identified the Adams Road in Chesterville as a possible location for the sexual assault. Reed contacted Charles on April 25, according to Charles’ affidavit. Meanwhile, the woman applied for and was granted a temporary Protection From Abuse order against Burnham through the Lewiston District Court. Charles indicated in his affidavit that the information she submitted to that court was consistent with the information he received from Reed.

The violating conditions of release misdemeanor charge stems from Burnham’s conditions of release through the Androscoggin County court, including no new criminal conduct and no use or possession of alcohol.

Burnham was arrested on May 3. He is being held on $20,000 cash bail.

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