A former Belgrade man charged with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl was arrested Friday for allegedly contacting the victim on Facebook and urging her to tell authorities their sexual encounter was consensual.
Travis Gerrier, 21, now of Dixmont, was charged with violating a condition of release for allegedly contacting the victim to tell her what to say to law enforcement agencies about the incident. Gerrier was arrested in June and charged with gross sexual assault.
Maine State Police responded to a report of a missing 11-year-old girl, joined the family in searching for her, and found Gerrier and the girl together in an outbuilding near the family’s Belgrade home, police said in a news release in June.
Police said Gerrier knew the girl and the two had been corresponding through Facebook before the alleged assault took place.
Gerrier’s bail conditions included a ban on him having contact with the victim or with children 16 or younger. He was also barred from using a computer or Facebook.
Kennebec Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brittany Johnson, in an affidavit, said the victim acknowledged talking to Gerrier through Facebook messenger in January, and that he was using two fake names.
The affidavit states Gerrier, using one of the fake names, told the victim that “she needs to tell ‘them'” — the police — “that he didn’t make her do it.” The affidavit also states he sent her a message saying he was going to propose marrying her after she turns 19.
Police served a search warrant on Facebook and, the following day, received records from the two Facebook accounts under the fake names. The messages indicated, according to the affidavit, “the suspect spoke about having to go to jail for the sexual encounter and that the cops are trying to keep him from his love.”
Gerrier was ordered held without bail.
Shortly before his arrest, Gerrier had posted on his Facebook page that he is a “hellhound” and stated, “I love porn.”
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