WEST GARDINER — A state representative from Freedom was arrested Monday night after a state trooper discovered him allegedly having sex with a woman in a van in a park-and-ride parking lot.

Brian L. Jones, D-Freedom, was arrested around 10 p.m. and charged with indecent conduct and failure to give his correct name, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Jones declined to give his name, and McCausland said the trooper who arrested Jones discovered his identity only when he found Jones’ car, bearing Maine legislative plates, across the street at the West Gardiner service plaza. Both the park-and-ride lot and the service plaza are just off the Maine Turnpike.

“He was discovered in a sexual encounter with a woman in a van in the park-and-ride by a trooper cruising the parking lot, as they routinely do,” McCausland said. “The trooper figured out who he was when he found Jones’ car, with legislative plates, parked across the street at the service plaza.”

The van belonged to the woman, not Jones.

McCausland said the woman was not related to Jones, who is married and has three children and one grandchild, according to the 2013 Senate and House Register.

The woman, who is from Sabattus, was not charged. McCausland said a factor in Jones being charged, but not the woman, was that the woman identified herself for the trooper while Jones did not.

McCausland said troopers routinely patrol park-and-ride lots along the turnpike, as some have been sites of criminal activity, such as breaking and entering of vehicles.

Jones, 56, was booked at 10:26 p.m. Monday at the Kennebec County jail, according to Sheriff Randall Liberty.

He was released on bail at 9:10 a.m. Tuesday. Bail was $310.

No one answered the phone Tuesday night at Jones’ home, nor was a message left on an answering machine there returned.

Jones said in an emailed statement, “I am aware that the allegations made will be a source of embarrassment for my family and a cause for concern for my constituents. I am deeply embarrassed. I am taking steps to address my long term struggle with alcoholism that I believe is the cause of my behavior. This has been a struggle for me and my family and I am seeking medical treatment now.”

Jones is running for re-election to the House against Republican MaryAnne Kinney, of Knox.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, said in a statement he “has been informed about the allegations Rep. Jones is confronting and we are taking them seriously. He has assured me that he intends to cooperate with the judicial process. I extend my support to his family during this difficult time.”

Jones was first elected in 2012 after a career as an educator, including three years as principal of Stearns High School in Millinocket. He also served as a selectman in Freedom until March this year.

His legislative profile says he has been a volunteer firefighter in Freedom since the 1980s and has been a member of the Budget Committee and Planning Board in Freedom. The profile says Jones is also an adjunct instructor of mathematics and statistics at Unity College and the New England School of Communications.

His district was District 45 but has been changed to District 99. District 99 includes the Waldo County towns of Brooks, Burnham, Freedom, Jackson, Knox, Monroe, Thorndike, Troy and Unity.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj

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