Waterville man sentenced to 10 years for assaulting 4-year-old and her mother

AUGUSTA – A Waterville man who strangled a 4-year-old girl twice until she lost consciousness and also assaulted the child’s mother several times was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.

Kevin C. Simpson’s jury trial was scheduled to begin Monday morning, but before jurors entered the Capital Judicial Center courtroom, Simpson and his attorney, George Hess, entered into a plea deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated assault . , one count of domestic violence on a child under six years old, and one count of domestic violence. An additional charge of domestic violence and aggravated assault was dismissed.

Simpson put his hands around a 4-year-old girl’s neck twice in 2021, causing her to lose consciousness both times, according to Amanda Seekins, an assistant district attorney. He also hit the girl and abused the girl’s mother, with whom he was in a relationship at the time.

The woman told police that Simpson, 38, attacked her 4-year-old daughter after becoming angry with her for not wanting to eat her dinner. He allegedly held the girl down with his foot behind her back and hit her at least seven times with a belt, then lifted her off the ground with his hands around her neck, according to an affidavit filed by Luis Rodriguez, a Waterville resident. agent. police officer. Rodriguez said in his statement that police could see marks on the girl’s back and neck.

The child’s mother said in court Monday that Simpson’s actions caused her and her daughter significant pain and suffering, from which they are still trying to recover. She said they were traumatically abused during the two-and-a-half year relationship she had with Simpson, and that his attacks left her suffering from PTSD and her daughter continuing to have nightmares.

“We didn’t deserve that, my daughter didn’t deserve that,” the woman said in the courtroom, as Simpson turned to listen and watch her as she spoke. “This will always stay with me. I’m glad I woke up and got out of that situation before I lost my child or my life. This is not for me, this is for my daughter.”

Simpson said he suffers from a mental illness and is already receiving treatment and medication for it in prison. He said he wants to be able to continue that treatment while he is in prison and after he is released.

Supreme Court Justice Michaela Murphy said Simpson’s treatment in prison should be allowed to continue without disruption and that if he is released he will be on probation for six years.

The girl’s mother said she prayed that Simpson would heal over time and become a better person, but also said, “Mental illness doesn’t give you the right to lay hands on someone.” She thanked Murphy, Seekins and police for taking her case seriously.

Hess said he and Simpson were prepared to go to trial. But the two watched video footage of Simpson and the girl as possible evidence in the case and decided to take the plea deal.

“He saw the video; it’s something we just couldn’t get over,” Hess said of Simpson. “If the child’s video comes in (to be seen by the jury at trial), it would taint the jury’s position against the woman.”

Seekins said she spoke with the adult victim in the case, who indicated she agreed to the terms of the settlement.

Murphy said the fact that the victim agreed to the sentence weighed heavily in her decision to accept the plea deal.

Simpson was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with all but ten of those years suspended, and six years of probation with conditions that he have no contact with the victim.

Simpson is in custody awaiting trial and has already spent about three years behind bars.

The incidents occurred between October 1 and December 2, 2021, when Simpson attacked a woman he lived with and her daughter multiple times in Waterville, in some cases causing injuries.

According to his indictment, Simpson’s criminal record includes prior convictions in other states for assault and battery, including on a family member.

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