Joshua King

BRUNSWICK — A former music teacher previously indicted on 25 counts of unlawful sexual contact faces 10 new counts of assault and sexual assault that stem from allegations made by a second minor.

A Cumberland County grand jury indicted Joshua King, 32, of Wiscasset on the new counts this week after his attorney, Michael Turndorf, said the prosecutor decided to join charges stemming from two alleged victims.

Brunswick police initially arrested King on Jan. 3 on six counts of unlawful sexual contact with a student he taught at The Music Store in the Tontine Mall in Brunswick.

In February, a Cumberland County grand jury indicted King on 25 counts of unlawful sexual contact for alleged offenses between January 2017 and January 2019. The alleged victim is now 9 years old.

The additional 19 counts in May were the result of a police investigation into King’s history with this student, and not due to additional alleged victims. The 25 counts of unlawful sexual contact are all Class B felonies, crimes punishable by up to 10 years incarceration and a $20,000 fine. Many of the court documents detailing the results of the investigation have been sealed from public view because the victim is a minor.

Court documents show that King was indicted this week on five new counts of unlawful sexual touching and five new counts of assault, all involving a child who is now 13 years old. Those crimes allegedly took place in Brunswick during October 2016, April 2017, April 2018 and October 2018. Court documents revealed no further details.

The new counts are all Class D misdemeanors punishable by up to 364 days incarceration and a $2,000 fine.

The most recent indictment is a “superseding indictment” in which the grand jury hears information from the original indictment plus additional information, Tamara Getchell, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, said in an email.

Jerry Perron, the owner of The Music Center, previously told The Times Record that King hasn’t been associated with the business since the start of January.

Perron sent out a letter Jan. 9 to all students who take lessons at The Music Center, and their families, to inform them of King’s arrest and make sure there weren’t any additional victims. In May, he said no other alleged victims came forward.

The police sent a similar letter in May.

“I know that the police were desperately searching to find an alleged second victim,” Turndorf said Wednesday. “As we all know, The Music Center sent out a letter originally. That letter was sent because the owner thought it was the proper thing to do. It was not prompted by law enforcement officials and I have good reason to believe that whatever responses were received were shared with the police and were, in fact, favorable to Mr. King – favorable meaning parents disbelieving that he would engage in that sort of alleged conduct.”

Turndorf said he has only received one written email in response to the letter police sent to parents, “and that email indicates that parent’s disbelief that Mr. King would engage in the alleged conduct.”

Turndorf argued that there is no physical evidence to support the accusations that led to the indictments of his client. Now that the prosecutor seeks to merge the first alleged victim’s claims with those of a new alleged victim, the entire case will slow down, “and we’ll have to deal with the issue of separating the two cases out,” he said.

The new alleged crimes date back three years or more, Turndorf said.

“I am sure the prosecution will attempt to come up with a justification or explanation for why more than three years passed before some other person came forward,” he said.

In addition to a lack of physical evidence against him, King maintains his innocence, Turndorf said.

“There certainly will be no confession because Mr. King, as you know, has indicated it never happened,” Turndorf said.

He argued he has video of the initial alleged victim leaving the music room after her last lesson with a smile as she went to greet her father, who was in the music store the entire time.

“So Mr. King deserves the benefit of the doubt,” Turndorf said. “The power of a pointed finger is a frightening thing but simply because someone or some people have not pointed a finger at him should not suggest that he is guilty. It will take some time for this to play out.”

The Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday on the latest indictment.

King is scheduled to appear in court Thursday so his attorney and the prosecution can meet with a judge to discuss the case. Turndorf said he’s trying to reschedule in light of the latest indictment.