An Anson man pleaded guilty in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday to federal charges connected to what authorities called a kidnapping and sexual assault in Allegheny National Forest.
Mike Beaulieu, 37, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two charges of kidnapping and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, according to U.S. Attorney David Hickton. The allegations that he raped a woman are incorporated into the charges to which he pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.
The crime happened Aug. 3, 2010, when Beaulieu approached a couple visiting the Kinzua Point Information Center in the Pennsylvania forest and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint, according to court documents.
He bound the male victim’s arms and legs with rope and gagged him with duct tape, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He ordered the female victim into his truck and drove her to a more secluded location in the national forest where he raped her at gunpoint.
When Beaulieu left the area, the woman walked through the forest toward the sound of traffic, flagged down a car and was discovered by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper. She remembered Beaulieu’s license plate number and was able to describe his truck and his gun.
She also provided a physical description of Beaulieu that was rendered into a composite sketch and distributed to law enforcement. A Maine State Police trooper recognized the sketch as Beaulieu, who had been missing since July 29, 2010, and had previously said he wanted to rape a woman before killing himself.
DNA results confirmed that Beaulieu was the assailant, the release states. Beaulieu said he suffers from a bipolar disorder, according to the Erie Times-News.
Fort Kent police found Beaulieu’s vehicle near the St. John River along the Canadian border. He was then captured in Canada with the help of the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Pennsylvania State Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
His arrest took place at a campground in Lac Baker, New Brunswick, according to Sgt. Rick Bernard of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Police originally went to the area because someone reported seeing a suspicious man.
Beaulieu is scheduled for sentencing in Pennsylvania on July 26. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of $500,000. He was originally indicted on additional charges of aggravated sexual abuse, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and a second count of kidnapping.
A woman who answered the phone at the law office of Thomas W. Patton, the federal public defender who represented Beaulieu, said it was the office’s policy to have no comment.
According to the Bangor Daily News, Beaulieu has been convicted in Maine of rape, arson, escape, domestic violence assault, felony drug furnishing, felony burglary, misdemeanor theft, felony and misdemeanor burglary of a vehicle and several probation violations.
Erin Rhoda — 612-2368
erhoda@centralmaine.com
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