State v. Severy

[¶ 1] A jury found that John A. Severy committed unlawful sexual contact (Class B), 17-A M.R.S. § 255-A(l)(E-l) (2009), 1 by subjecting a child under the age of twelve to contact between his penis and her hands for purposes of his sexual gratification. Severas defense was that, although he allowed the child to engage in that activity on multiple occasions, he did not initiate or seek out that sexual contact. He therefore argues that he did not “subject” her to unlawful sexual contact. We conclude that an adult does “subject” a child to sexual contact by failing to stop the child from touching…