BIDDEFORD — A Biddeford School Committee member has been indicted on multiple charges of assault.

Dennis Anglea, 58, was indicted on Thursday for felony charges for aggravated assault and attempted gross sexual assault. He is also charged with a misdemeanor for domestic violence assault.

Anglea, has served on the Biddeford School Committee since 2013, and his term ends  in 2019. He denies the charges, and says he’ll continue serving on the School Committee.

“The accusations that are against me are false, and I’m letting my lawyer and the system take care of it,” Anglea told the Portland Press Herald on Friday. “I expect to continue serving. I have been charged. In the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”

The charges stem from a report to Biddeford Police by a 47-year-old Biddeford woman whom Anglea said he has had past sexual encounters with.

On April 24, the alleged victim went to the Biddeford Police Station and told police that Anglea assaulted her on April 21 in an upstairs room at 25 Alfred St., according to a June 8 affidavit filed by Biddeford Police Officer Shara Mike Guzelian.

In a court affidavit, the alleged victim told police she saw Anglea while downtown on the night of April 21, and that she had known Anglea for a couple of years and they had previously been sexually active.

On the night of the alleged assault, according to court documents, Anglea hugged her and offered to buy her a beer. She said Anglea purchased a can of Natty Daddy beer for her and some nip size bottles of alcohol for him, and then took her to a building which he oversaw as a property manager. She alleges that he led her up two flights of stairs with a flashlight to an unlit room which was empty except for a bed, table and chairs.

The alleged victim told police that the two were hanging out for about 15 minutes when Anglea “snapped,” and began to whip her around while grabbing her hair. Then she alleges that Anglea took off her clothes and said “I could kill you” as he hit her on the chest while she lay naked on the floor. She told police that he grabbed her wrists while she was on the floor and smashed her head against the floor. The alleged victim told police that while her clothes were off, Anglea grabbed both of her breasts with his hands.

The alleged victim told police she had bruises on her chest where Anglea allegedly punched her, and pulled down her shirt to reveal a bruise. A police officer also observed a small laceration in the center of her back, which appeared to be consistent with being dragged on the ground, according to Guzelian.

The alleged victim told police Anglea put his hands around her throat for about a minute, and she could not breathe, but did not lose consciousness. She told police that she was missing hair where Anglea grabbed her, and he called her a “whore” and other names.

Anglea reportedly told police at an interview on May 3 that he responded to an alarm call at a mill building around 8:30 p.m. on April 21, and afterward ran into a friend of his, who has been identified as the alleged victim.

Anglea told police the woman was “pretty messed up, of course she usually is.”

The woman asked him to buy her a couple of beers and he bought her a couple of Natty Daddy beers, a couple of shots and a pack of cigarettes, he said.

The woman drank the two shots, they talked for about 30 or 40 minutes and he told her they had to leave but she wanted to stay and hang out, Anglea said.

He walked her outside and went to WalMart to buy eggs and bacon for a breakfast the next day at the church where his wife serves as a minister, according to information in the affidavit.

The alleged victim had been ranting about an ex-boyfriend and a current boyfriend, and after he bought her drinks he took her inside a building he managed because he didn’t want her drinking in public, Anglea told police.

He said he had to use a flashlight as there was no power in the upstairs of the building. He said he thought he had a drink prior to meeting up with the alleged victim, he told police he not drink while they were talking in the building.

Anglea denied assaulting the alleged victim and said the only time he put his hand on her was when he grabbed her left arm and led her down the stairs because she was intoxicated.

Anglea told police he did not have sex with the alleged victim, but evidence found later by police in the room was a result of a sexual encounter he had with another woman the day after the alleged assault.

According to information in the affidavit, Anglea told Guzelian that the alleged victim may have accused him of assault because she asked him for money and he didn’t give her any, and she knew he had given money to many other people.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but a finding that enough evidence exists to move forward with prosecution.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.