Farmington public works director pleads guilty to assault charges

FARMINGTON – The director of the Farmington Public Works Department pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence assault, as part of a deferred disposition.

Philip Hutchins, 35 of Jay, pleaded guilty to both counts, as well as two other, related charges: violating a protection from abuse order and violating conditions of his release by having contact with his wife earlier this year.

State police were originally asked to investigate by the Farmington Police Department, due to Hutchins’ employment by the town. The complainant was an acquaintance of a woman related to Hutchins; he reportedly learned about an incident that is alleged to have occurred on March 5. According to court documents, the charges related to Hutchins yelling at and then striking his stepsons, then ages 9 and 6, as they were playing with his two-year-old daughter and throwing her onto a couch. When the boys’ mother slapped Hutchins’ in the head in response, he grabbed her.

Hutchins was placed on a deferred disposition agreement for two years, requiring he refrain from any more criminal conduct, complete a Certified Batterers Intervention Program and the Active Parenting for Step Families’ class through the Franklin County Children’s Task Force. He will not be allowed to have contact with his stepsons initially; that condition can be modified through a Maine Department of Health and Human Services agreement if Hutchins has completed the FCCTF class and is engaged in the CBIP.

If the deferred disposition is completed successfully, Hutchins will be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas to the assault charges, which will then be dismissed. If the conditions are not adhered to, Hutchins will face open sentences on those charges. In Maine, a Class D misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail.

He also received a suspended, 364-day sentence for the violating the protection from abuse charge, as well as two years of probation; and three days in jail, with time served, for the violating conditions of release charge.