Absolutely outrageous! A 5000$ UNSECURED Bond on this child rapist.I suppose the fact that he was a police officer is suppose to speak for the type of character he is right? guilty to two counts of gross sexual assault on a child who was 8 years old at the time.

Former police chief pleads guilty to sex assaults on girl.

AUGUSTA -- A former police officer and one-time Monmouth police chief faces eight years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting a young girl who is closely related to him.

Kenneth E. Latulippe, 43, of Winthrop pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual assault on a child who was 8 years old at the time.

The offenses occurred Oct. 1, 2005, and Nov. 1, 2005, in Winthrop, according to the complaint filed in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Latulippe is to be sentenced March 12 to a term of 15 years in prison, with all but eight years suspended, and 12 years of probation. The sentence was recommended jointly to Justice Nancy Mills by the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley, and Latulippe's attorney, J. Mitchell Flick.

"He entered the pleas so the victim would not have to testify before the grand jury," Kelley said.

The Kennebec County grand jury is scheduled to consider cases this week.

In the meantime, Latulippe is free on $5,000 unsecured bail with conditions that ban him from contact with the victim and the victim's family.

"If there is any misconduct, it could form the basis for a higher sentence," Kelley said, noting Latulippe has no prior criminal record.

Kelley said the victim's mother was in court for Tuesday's hearing and that the victim and her family would have an opportunity to speak at sentencing. Latulippe, too, can speak at the sentencing.

District Attorney Evert Fowle said the recommended sentence is longer than it might have been a couple of years ago partly because of a new, tougher sex-offender law that sets 20 years as a basic sentence for individuals convicted of gross sexual assault on children younger than 12. It also mandates lifetime probation.

Fowle said Latulippe's offenses occurred prior to enactment of that law.

"The sentence we've obtained here is evidence the new law is having a beneficial effect," Fowle said.

The charges were investigated by Maine State Police Trooper Adam Kelley.

"We got the initial call on it and we deferred it because he was a former officer here," said Winthrop Police Chief Joseph Young. Young said Latulippe was a patrolman in Winthrop until 1986.
Latulippe later was a patrol officer in Monmouth and then became chief there in 1990. He was placed on an indefinite leave of absence on Feb. 10, 1998, and then resigned that November.

No public explanation was offered for the absence from work. At the time, the town manager said it was a personnel action.

Latulippe most recently worked as a reserve officer at police departments in Sabattus and Wiscasset.

Latulippe resigned from the Wiscasset post earlier this month, according to published reports, while Sabattus Police Chief Thomas P. Fales Sr. said Latulippe resigned that post about a month ago.
"He turned in his firearm and told the lieutenant he was resigning," Fales said Tuesday.

Shortly afterward, Fales said, Latulippe told him about the gross sexual assault investigation.
"I was shocked when he told me that, and I was just in disbelief," Fales said.

"I've known him for a lot of years and he was a good friend and that was a shock to me. He fully explained what was going to happen."
Fales said he worked with Latulippe when both men were patrol officers in Winthrop in the 1980s.
Several officers said Latulippe also has worked in security at the former Maine Yankee in Wiscasset.
It is the policy of the Kennebec Journal not to disclose the names of sexual assault victims.