AUGUSTA — Twenty-one men have been charged with engaging a prostitute as a result of multi-agency sting conducted at three hotels in Augusta and Waterville over the past six weeks, authorities announced Friday.

Meanwhile, a defense attorney contacted by some of the men questioned the scale of the police operations, since the resulting charges were misdemeanors.

The sting, which was conducted by Augusta and Waterville police and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, concluded Thursday night in Augusta and involved advertisements placed on Internet and social media pages. Authorities in a news release tied the solicitation of prostitution to the “societal epidemic” of human trafficking and sex trafficking.

“We suspected that prostitution was taking place throughout central Maine and highly suspected we would get high number of responses to Internet ads from potential johns,” Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said in an interview Friday. “A lot of people kind of view this as a victimless crime. We don’t. Prostitutes are very alienated and exploited.”

Walter McKee, an Augusta defense attorney who has been contacted by at least two of the men charged in this sting, criticized authorities for releasing the identities of those charged, saying that having “their names published is an overwhelming penalty in and of itself, so that being convicted or having a fine imposed is arguably the lesser of the punishments here.”

McKee also questioned the level of resources authorities devoted to the stings.

“I think there perhaps should be a larger discussion here about the amount of time and money that this operation involved in light of the 21 misdemeanor charges that came out of it,” he said.

Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Ryan Reardon said the operation was conducted by placing ads on the Internet and on social media, and each man went to one of the hotels, which authorities would not identify, expecting to pay for sex. All but one of the men are from Maine, and they range in age from 23 to 71.

“The person they encountered, however, was an employee of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and the suspected johns were detained by teams comprised of members of our three agencies,” Reardon said.

Authorities said the sting occurred on three occasions: Aug. 11 in Waterville, Aug. 27 in Augusta and Thursday in Augusta.

Augusta police Chief Robert Gregoire said in the release, “Individuals seeking to patronize prostitutes – and the money they spend – create the market for these crimes and the opportunity for the victimization of many trafficked individuals.”

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney previously has described the distinction between prostitution and sex trafficking charges this way: “With prostitution, a woman is making that decision and is in charge of herself. With sex trafficking, we’re talking about targeting and recruiting vulnerable women and manipulating them to engage in sex. The difference is who is in control, who’s in charge.”

The link between such trafficking and the central Maine cases of engaging a prostitute doesn’t hold up for McKee, the defense attorney.

“I don’t see there were any charges of trafficking. There wouldn’t be, because this is a sting operation,” McKee said. “To be clear: Human trafficking is an issue, but I’m not highly confident that operations like this are the way we perhaps should address that problem.”

Massey said the cooperation among the agencies in cases such as this can lead to other joint ventures because the officers talk and share information about other cases. Maloney consulted with the police agencies before the sting operation, according to the release, as well as with the South Portland Police Department and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office because those agencies have conducted similar operations.

A probable cause affidavit by Kennebec Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Chilton, filed in an Augusta court in support of the arrest of Mark Conley, 61, of Raymond, says he responded to an online ad at 2 p.m. Thursday “by stating he wanted to barter and bring crack cocaine in exchange for a sexual act.”

Chilton said he searched Conley after he walked into the room and was taken into custody, finding what appeared to be crack cocaine. He was arrested on charges of trafficking in crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Most of those charged are scheduled for hearings at Waterville District Court or in Augusta at the Capital Judicial Center between Oct. 5 and Nov. 30.

Massey described prostitution as degrading to women.

“It certainly demeans women, and there is absolutely no respect for women from these johns, especially when you hear the requests for sex acts and things they want these prostitutes to do,” Massey said. “It’s a very degrading thing. We certainly do not want it in the community.”

Among those charged Thursday with a class E misdemeanor of engaging a prostitute was Brandon Berry, 27, a West Forks man who’s made headlines as an up-and-coming professional boxer in Maine. He also was charged with violating conditions of release because he had been free on bail in connection with a charge of criminal speeding earlier this year.

In a telephone interview Friday, Berry said police had told him he should not release too many details about what happened, but Berry said he was confident that the charges would be dismissed.

“I can’t tell you what happened. Everything that happened was on video. That’s all I need to have this dismissed easily,” Berry said.

Having his name in the list released by police was misleading, Berry added. He has not hired legal representation and said he does not think it will be necessary to get the charges dropped.

“It is unbelievable my name is on that,” Berry said. “This won’t stick, I don’t believe.”

Here are the other men charged by police with engaging a prostitute, a class E misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine:

William Boardman, 64, of Islesboro; Guy Buck, 63, of Winthrop; Shawn M. Buck, 38, of Clinton; Patrick Cazemajou, 51, of Camden; Mark Conley, 61, of Raymond, who was arrested at the same time on charges of unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, unlawful furnishing of scheduled drug, unlawful possession of scheduled drug, and sale and use of drug paraphernalia; Rayfield A. Dobbins, 42, of Augusta; Trevor Dunn, 46, of China; Walter Esancy, 54, of Appleton; Dennis Glidden, 57, of Pittsfield; Warren D. Graybill, 50, of Harpswell; Samuel E. Hazelburst, 38, of Troy; Brian McCrea, 55, of Bowdoinham; Paul A. Michaud, 23, of Waterville; William Norwood, 50, of Manchester; James Raber, 71, of Augusta; Troy Shaw, 44, of New Gloucester; Darrell Smith, 42, of Old Town; Lewis Sukeforth, 50, of Searsmont; James Taylor, 58, of Berlin, New Hampshire; and Jacob B. Vega, 26, of Corinna, who also was charged with possession of a scheduled drug.

Staff writer Peter McGuire contributed to this report.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

AUGUSTA — Claudia Viles, former tax collector for the town of Anson, pleaded not guilty to 13 Somerset County charges related to tax fraud Thursday morning in a court appearance at the Capital Judicial Center.

Viles, who resigned from the job Sept. 10, is charged with theft, five counts of failure to make or file state income tax returns, six counts of failure to file or pay state income taxes and tampering with public records. The charges stem from an investigation by the Office of the Maine Attorney General into $438,712 in missing excise tax money from the Anson Town Office.

Viles, 65, said little during the arraignment Thursday morning, except to enter the plea and to acknowledge that she understood her arraignment rights. Viles declined to comment outside of the court after the hearing. Wearing a black pantsuit and tinted glasses, she was accompanied by about five people, including Anson Selectwoman Inez Moody.

Bail was set at $10,000 unsecured, meaning it doesn’t have to be paid unless she fails to comply with conditions of release or fails to attend a scheduled court appearance.

Prosecutor Leanne Robbin, an assistant attorney general, asked that special conditions be included in the bail, including that Viles not be allowed in the Town Office as a tax collector, that she be barred from her duties as tax collector and that she turn over any property of the town that is in her possession, including keys to the Town Office and any town records. She said the conditions were requested in a letter from the Anson Board of Selectmen.

The letter, which the Morning Sentinel obtained Wednesday from the Town Office, says the board requested the bail conditions to restore the faith and confidence of Anson residents in the tax collection process.

“Given that Ms. Viles has been indicted for misappropriating a significant amount of money that she collected from Anson citizens in the form of taxes, the townspeople will not have confidence that they should make their payments through Ms. Viles and/or that their payments will be handled properly,” it says.

Walter McKee, Viles’ attorney, said Viles already has returned her keys to the Town Office and doesn’t have any town records in her possession. “We have none. There is nothing to be returned,” he said.

As of Sept. 9, the Town Office was missing excise tax records from 2010 and part of 2013.

The indictment charges Viles with tampering with records from those years.

Anson Administrative Assistant Tammy Murray said she could not comment Wednesday when asked whether the Town Office still is missing tax records.

McKee said it did not make sense for the judge to bar her from duties as tax collector, because she already has resigned from the position.

Justice Robert Mullen set the bail at $10,000 unsecured, and the only special condition he included in the bail was that Viles not enter the Town Office as tax collector.

In August, Mullen also approved a lien on Viles’ North Anson home as part of a civil lawsuit the town has against her. That suit is on hold while the criminal charges are pending.

Viles hasn’t commented on the missing money and also has denied the allegations against her in the civil lawsuit. She has been tax collector, an elective position, for 42 years and was at work through much of the investigation into the missing excise tax money.

Town officials said they could not remove her from the job or limit her duties because she was an elected official and the town does not have a recall ordinance. State law provides a recall procedure for elected officials that is only applicable if the officials in question have been convicted of a crime involving the municipality while they are in office.

The investigation into the missing money began in December, when former Administrative Assistant Triss Smith found a discrepancy of $78,645 between the amount of money Viles had reported collecting in 2014 and the amount deposited in the town’s bank account.

Smith, who started working for the town in May 2014, had implemented a computer system that went online in September last year that automatically credited payments, and the town also began making daily deposits of the money it took in.

Smith told police that she first asked Viles if they could figure out together what went wrong, but Viles was “adamant” that she would work it out herself.

In January, the town contacted Purdy Powers & Co. to perform an audit, which confirmed that $76,686 was missing from the 2014 town accounts. That information was reported to residents at Town Meeting in March as well as to the police.

Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Arnold Luce said the town always has conducted monthly audits of tax records, and he believes auditors were given false information during those audits.

A review in March of how Viles processed excise tax payments revealed that she wasn’t recording the right numbers even though she appeared to understand how to do the job correctly, according to court records.

Since then audits of subsequent years of tax records have revealed shortfalls of $112,491 in 2013, $125,356 in 2012 and $110,756 in 2011. The total amount found to be missing from 2014 was $90,109. The cost to the town to audit a single year’s worth of records is about $8,000, and the Board of Selectmen is debating whether to continue reviewing previous years’ tax records. The town already has recovered $250,000 through an insurance policy with the Maine Municipal Association, the maximum allowable under the policy, and it is unclear whether they would be able to recover any more money, Luce said.

Thursday’s Somerset County hearing was held in the Augusta court because neither McKee nor Robbin were available on the regular arraignment day in Skowhegan. Future hearings will be held in Somerset County.

Viles’ next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm

Augusta police issued a summons Thursday to a 15-year-old female Cony High School student after another bomb threat was made at the school.

A threat was “communicated through a handwritten note on the school property” a little after 7 a.m., according to a news release from the Augusta Police Department. The school was evacuated as a precaution, but a police officer stationed at the school and detectives quickly identified the suspect.

After the summons on a charge of terrorizing was issued, the student was turned over to her parents, according to police.

Detectives still are investigating bomb threats made at Cony at the end of last school year. The threats occurred June 2, 8 and 9 leading to evacuations with two of them being conveyed in bathroom stalls in both the boys and girls bathrooms.

A third threat, which mentioned a bomb and a shooter outside the school, was found written on a note. In that instance, school officials locked students inside the school.

At one point, parents expressed concern about how the school district was handling the threats, leading Superintendent James Anastasio and Cony Principal Kim Silsby to hold a community forum. Anastasio did not respond Thursday to requests for additional information.

Augusta Deputy Chief Jared Mills, responding Thursday evening, said the suspect is a girl. He said evidence at the scene and the work of School Resource Officer Carly Wiggin and Detective Tori Tracy enabled police to identify the suspect quickly.

Students returned to their classes shortly after the school was evacuated, Mills said.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said last month that she wants to work with state legislators to strengthen state laws when it comes to prosecuting cases involving school bomb threats.

Bomb threat suspects are charged under terrorizing statutes. Threats that lead to an evacuation rise to the level of a class C felony, which not only carries a potential penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, but also brings with it longer-lasting effects, such as a prohibition against ever owning a firearm or preclusion from certain careers.

But according to state law, if the building is not evacuated, the maximum penalty is a class D misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine with no accompanying long-term consequences.

“It will be aggressively prosecuted,” Maloney said last month. “This is a serious threat. It’s affecting the education of a large number of students. I will make this a priority if we have a case against someone.”

AUGUSTA — A New York woman pleaded guilty Thursday to charges relating to a credit card scam, and similar charges against her brother were dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office.

Nelcie Souffrant, 25, of Hempstead, New York, was charged with theft by receiving stolen property, misuse of ID, and resisting arrest in a case in which stolen credit cards were being used to buy about $8,000 in gift cards at Rite Aid stores in Waterville and in Bangor.

On Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center, Souffrant pleaded guilty and received a 10-month deferred disposition on the felony theft charge. If she meets the terms of the agreement with the state, that charge will be dismissed. Conditions include paying a $25-per-month supervision fee and a prohibition on her returning to the property or business of any Rite Aid in Maine. A charge of theft by deception was dismissed in exchange for her pleas.

Her next court date is June 9, 2016. After that hearing, she is to report to jail to serve the 30-day sentence she received on the two misdemeanor charges.

Assistant District Attorney Francis Griffin Jr. said an employee of Rite Aid in Waterville called Waterville police April 1 to say a woman was running several credit cards at the same time and buying large amounts of gift cards at the store. He also told police the company had sent out a warning for stores to be alert to that type of behavior since something similar had occurred at the Bangor location.

Griffin said Waterville police Officer Scott Dumas approached the woman as she was leaving the store, and she ran away and tried to jump over a fence. He said police also found Nickson Souffrant, 26, also of Hempstead, New York, sitting nearby in a rental car.

Both Souffrants were arrested. Nickson Souffrant was charged with theft by receiving stolen property, misuse of identification and theft by deception. Those charges were all dismissed Thursday and his bail was returned.

He was represented by Walter McKee, who said afterward that his client apparently had been charged as an accomplice.

“It was pretty clear to all involved early on that Nickson just had no idea what was happening here,” McKee said. “The complete dismissal of the charges against him reflects that.”

Police obtained a search warrant and located $8,000 worth of gift cards and 57 stolen credit cards.

“Each one of the 57 belonged to a different person,” Griffin told Justice Robert Mullen. Griffin said the people were living in various locations from South America to Canada. He said the cards had been altered, and the name on the magnetic strip was inconsistent with the name on the front of the card.

Souffrant’s defense attorney, Brad Grant, urged the judge to accept the plea deal, saying, “This was clearly a difficult case to prove.”

Grant said the state would have had to bring in the individuals who were named as owners of those cards plus representatives from various banks to testify in the case.

He also told the judge that Souffrant “is really a gifted and talented young lady” who made a bad decision. He said she is enrolled in college.

Souffrant herself said only “guilty” in response to the charges and later disputed the prosecutor’s version of events. She told the judge, “When officers approached me, I was still inside Rite Aid, not outside.”

Mullen said he had heard in chambers about what Souffrant was doing with her life.

“That makes what happened here all the more confusing to me,” he said. “I hope you don’t let anyone down by not following through on this.”

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

AUGUSTA — A former clerk at the district attorney’s office in Skowhegan pleaded not guilty Thursday to an indictment charging her with embezzling an estimated $85,000 in restitution and supervision fees paid to that office over a four-year period.

Julie A. Smith, 58, of Skowhegan, was arraigned in the Somerset County criminal case at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta.

She was accompanied by her attorney, Walter Hanstein.

Smith spoke quietly, saying “not guilty” twice.

The prosecutor in the case is Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin because the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office is named as the victim in the indictment.

Smith pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of theft by unauthorized taking, which allegedly occurred from April 2010 to October 2014, and to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with public records from June 2010 to July 2014.

The latter charge says Smith falsified entries regarding restitution payments.

Smith, who had worked at the district attorney’s office since 2009, resigned after the investigation began in October 2014.

“This is an $85,000 theft case,” Robbin told Justice Robert Mullen.

Hanstein asked for a longer-than-usual discovery period.

“The discovery in this case is rather voluminous,” he said, and Robbin supported that request.

“We produced some of the discovery today, but there’s more to come,” Robbin said.

Smith is free on a $5,000 unsecured bail bond with no special conditions, and the judge set it for a dispositional conference Nov. 18 and a docket call Feb. 1, 2016. Thursday’s hearing was in Augusta, but future hearings will be in Skowhegan at the Somerset County Courthouse.

The investigation into the missing money in part led Maeghan Maloney, who is district attorney in Kennebec and Somerset counties, to tell employees to stop taking cash and check payments at her office. However, the district attorney’s offices now accept personal checks, cashier’s checks and money orders.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

WINSLOW — A federal court judge has affirmed a suggested ruling in favor of the Winslow Police Department in an excessive-force case a resident brought against three police officers.

The order, issued Thursday, leaves only two claims remaining in the civil case, which probably will go to trial by early next year.

In his order, Judge George Singal affirmed a recommended decision to grant a summary judgment in the case to the town of Winslow and Winslow Officers Joshua Veilleux and Michael Michaud. A federal court judge issued the recommended ruling in the case in early August.

Resident William Sadulsky filed suit against the two officers and Officer Haley Fleming in 2014, charging that they had used excessive force, illegally entered his home and unlawfully detained him when the three officers responded to a noise complaint in January 2012 at his Quimby Lane home.

During the incident, Fleming used a Taser to subdue Sadulsky. In his original complaint, Sadulsky said that Fleming had forced his way into Sadulsky’s house and then used his Taser on him when he was standing with his hands up.

In his lawsuit, Sadulsky claimed that Fleming, Michaud and Veilleux used excessive force on him and illegally detained him and also alleged that the town had failed to train and supervise its officers adequately. The suit was amended later to include claims that his wife, Sarah Sadulsky, who was home at the time, suffered psychological injuries because of the incident.

Sadulsky was arrested after the altercation and charged with assaulting Fleming and Michaud and refusing to submit to arrest. At a September 2012 trial, he was found guilty of assaulting Michaud but was acquitted of the other charge.

The ruling Thursday finds in favor of the officers and the town in most of the charges William and Sarah Sadulsky brought against them.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Bangor attorney Joseph Baldacci, who represents the Sadulskys, declined to comment on the case.

The claim that Fleming used excessive force when he used the Taser on Sadulsky and the claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress were not included in the ruling.

Sadulsky and Fleming gave different versions of what happened during the altercation in sworn depositions. Because of the disparity in their accounts, a jury probably will be asked to establish the facts.

“The only thing left now is for the remaining claims to go to trial in the coming months,” said Edward Benjamin, an attorney from Drummond Woodsum representing the town, in an email Thursday morning.

A trial in the case probably will be scheduled for December or January, Benjamin said.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: PeteL_McGuire

WISCASSET — A Belfast woman was in jail Thursday following her arrest two days earlier in connection with an alleged road rage incident on Route 1 in Wiscasset, the town’s police chief said.

Based on witness accounts, police interviews and a drug test, 26-year-old Elizabeth Brown was charged with driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an accident, Police Chief Troy Cline said Thursday.

During his investigation, Cline also discovered that Brown was on probation. She tested positive for Suboxone, for which she has a prescription, and an amphetamine, for which she does not. She was taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.

The confrontation began around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday when 61-year-old Leverett Davis of Freeport saw Brown’s vehicle approaching in his rearview mirror at high speed, Cline said. Davis told police he avoided her by moving to the center line while Brown passed him in the righthand breakdown lane.

When Davis sped up to get her license plate number, Brown slammed on her brakes, the cars collided, and she sped off, police said.

Davis continued to follow, honking his horn to try to get her to stop, he said. Brown braked suddenly in front of the Wiscasset town office, causing the cars to collide again. Brown then gave Davis an obscene gesture and drove off, Cline said.

On Route 1 in Wiscasset, Davis flagged down a deputy from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, who stopped Brown in Edgecomb. Sgt. Jason Nein escorted both drivers to the Wiscasset police station.

Cline interviewed both drivers and found a partially full bottle of Bacardi 151 rum in Brown’s car.

“It could have been a deadly situation if she had not been stopped by police,” Cline said.

A heartfelt letter from a heroin addict describing how a Portland police officer helped him in a desperate moment was being widely shared online Thursday, drawing about 1,500 Facebook “likes” and a flood of comments praising the officer by evening.

The department posted the letter on its Facebook site at the writer’s request, saying the writer wanted it posted anonymously. In his letter, he described talking at length to Officer Sean Hurley about his situation and being comforted by the officer’s compassion. He said he’s been clean since that day, more than a month ago.

“For the first time in my life, I legitimately contemplated suicide. I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’d had enough, and I had hit a whole new bottom. All I had was the clothes I had been wearing the last few days in a row,” he wrote. But Hurley tried to help, and even teared up when he heard the addict’s story.

“That display of genuine emotion touched my heart (and) is a memory I will forever hold dear to me. In that moment, he not only restored my faith in police officers … but he also restored my faith in humanity on that day. His compassion, vulnerability, and inherent goodness just blew me away,” the man wrote. “He shook my hand, pulled me in for a hug, and told me he would say a prayer for me.”

Here is the full letter:

“The date was August 17, 2015. It’s a day I’ll never forget, for good reasons and bad. I’m 30 years old and I suffer from the disease of addiction. It started with OxyContin in 2003 at the age of 18, and progressed into heroin in 2010 when I was 25.

After using on the morning of Monday the 17th, I found myself sick, withdrawing, and homeless come early afternoon. I was at a friend’s house for a few hours (a fellow addict), and he informed me around 4pm or so that he needed to drop me off somewhere because he wanted to use…and because I had no money and no valuables, I was of no use to him. He knew I had nowhere to go and I’d end up sleeping on the street as I had the night before. He didn’t care.

As if I wasn’t depressed enough as it was, once he dropped me off on Brighton Ave, I was absolutely devastated. For the first time in my life, I legitimately contemplated suicide. I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’d had enough, and I had hit a whole new bottom. All I had was the clothes I had been wearing the last few days in a row. Not even a minute after being dropped off, I was approached by a shady couple that asked me to use my lighter. I agreed, and the woman (who was clearly under the influence of several different drugs) asked me to do a sexual favor for her boyfriend for money. I was so disgusted. But that’s my luck – as if things weren’t bad enough, this had to happen to make my day even worse. So I decided to call the Portland Police Department to report that this couple was attempting to solicit prostitution.

After being on the phone for about ten minutes, the dispatcher informed me they were sending an officer to my location to take a report. Approximately fifteen minutes later, a cruiser pulled up and Officer Sean Hurley came over to me and introduced himself. I spent several minutes telling him my version of the events that had just transpired, and gave him a description of the couple that had approached me. Once I was done giving him the report, he sincerely thanked me for reaching out to the police…he clearly could see how much it bothered me.

Now, as an addict with a record who was strung out pretty bad, I would normally be extremely anxious and paranoid just having a cop talk to me, let alone having a conversation with one! But because he was so polite, helpful, and sincere in our conversation, I made the conscious decision that I would be totally and completely honest with him. I told him my situation in detail, including how and why I ended up homeless (once again). I also told him I had been waiting for the last several days to get into Milestone Detox so I could get into a program, but they had made so many false promises regarding how long I would have to wait…which resulted in me having to sleep on the streets for the previous two nights (a first for me). He felt so bad for me and he clearly knew my situation was pretty hopeless. He started offering to help in any and every way he knew how.

Unfortunately, my options were severely limited. He asked me if I would be willing to let him take me to the Oxford Street shelter, which is a wet shelter. For anyone not familiar with the term ‘wet shelter’, basically it means that people are allowed to be drunk and/or high while staying there. I was struggling so hard to stay clean, and knew in my heart that if I were literally surrounded by drugs, it would be almost impossible not to succumb to the temptation.

That brought me to come to terms with a harsh reality: I would rather sleep on the streets on Portland than in a wet shelter. Almost immediately after I said those words to Officer Hurley, I broke down and began bawling my eyes out. I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer.

The biggest reason I have for sharing this experience with the public is what happened next. Even though Sean had been great with everything up to this point, in a million years I wouldn’t have expected to see what I saw when I looked at him. It was obvious to me that he was fighting back tears, and then it happened – I saw a tear begin to fall down his cheek, which he promptly wiped away…which I assume was to be able to keep his composure so he could be there for me during my time of weakness.

Either way, that display of genuine emotion touched my heart is a memory I will forever hold dear to me. In that moment, he not only restored my faith in police officer said, but he also restored my faith in humanity on that day. His compassion, vulnerability, and inherent goodness just blew me away. He shook my hand, pulled me in for a hug, and told me he would say a prayer for me. He also asked me (probably ten more times) before he left if there was ANYTHING else whatsoever that he could do for me…to which I replied, “You’ve already done so much, more than I could’ve ever asked for.”

I’ve been clean since that day. So thank you, Sean. You’ve become a hero of mine. I honestly don’t even know if I’d still be here today if it weren’t for what you did for me on that day. I am so blessed to have met you, and the citizens of Portland are as well…to have an officer like you serving and protecting them. God Bless You.”

Hurley said Thursday that he was just doing his job, and he was glad the man was staying clean.

“Every officer here does this every day,” said Hurley, standing outside the police station. “You never know, just looking at someone, how they’re feeling. It’s why we always like to talk to them.”

The writer said Hurley may have even saved his life.

“So thank you, Sean. You’ve become a hero of mine. I honestly don’t even know if I’d still be here today if it weren’t for what you did for me on that day,” he wrote.

Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said it was good to hear the officer had helped the man.

“I think we have a police department that’s full of compassionate people. Every once in a while, an incident comes to light like this, but I know it’s happening all the time,” Sauschuck said.