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MASSENA - The acting Massena village justice rejected a request to modify an order of protection for a Nicholville man charged with two counts of forcible touching after he allegedly had inappropriate contact with two 14-year-old females.
Village police had charged Matthew J. Parks, 37, of 12 state Route 458, Nicholville, with two counts of forcible touching and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child following an investigation into a series of incidents involving two 14-year-old females in January and early February.
Parks had been arraigned by Acting Massena Village Justice James M. Crandall following his arrest, and the village justice had released the Nicholville man under the supervision of the probation department with stipulations that he have no contact with any females under 18 years of age and not enter any schools or school grounds. The court also signed a temporary order of protection directing Parks to have no contact with alleged teenage victims.
Defense attorney Verner Ingram asked the court to modify the order of protection at Parks first court appearance with an attorney to allow his client to have custody of his 10-year-old daughter this summer. She currently lives out of state with her mother.
But Mr. Crandall said he would leave that decision in the hands of the probation department, child protective services and potentially Family Court and maintained the existing temporary order of protection that prohibits Parks from having contact with any females under 18 years of age.
Parks is charged with having inappropriate sexual contact with one of the 14-year-olds and touching the other 14-year-old females buttocks when he thought she was sleeping.
He was reportedly involved in a relationship with one of the teens mothers when the incidents took place, and that womans daughter shared reports of the incidents that had taken place in recent weeks with her mother when her relationship with Parks ended.
Parks, in a statement he provided police, acknowledged he had acted inappropriately. I had a moment of weakness ... I am very sorry for my actions and apologize to her family for what happened, he said.
One of the teenagers told police Parks had started touching her shortly after he met her, starting out by rubbing her leg in what she initially thought was a comforting way. She said that contact escalated in the following days and weeks.
Matthew would come up behind me and put his arms around my waist and it felt weird to me. Matthew would be overly friendly to us ..., the alleged victim said, noting his conduct became more inappropriate as the days went on.
She told police Parks had inappropriately touched her on a few separate occasions.
The other 14-year-old said her friend had told her early on that Parks was a creeper. I noticed he flirted a lot with her and would say a lot of inappropriate things. Matthew would only act like this when my mother was sleeping or gone to work, that teenager said.
In other recent court action before Judge Crandall:
■ Christine L. Crete, 31, of 3056 Roxborough-Finch Bandy Road, Finch, Ont., was fined $100 and a $125 surcharge after having a fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana charge reduced to disorderly conduct. The court had rejected a plea offer to grant Crete an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal.
She allegedly was in possession of a plastic baggie containing 19.7 grams of marijuana in the center console of her vehicle and a second baggie containing 6.1 grams of marijuana in her purse located during a secondary inspection Jan. 13 at the U.S. port of entry in Rooseveltown.
In recent court action before Massena Town Justice Gerald P. Sharlow:
■ D.J. Stephenson, 18, of 236 Barker Road, Potsdam, was granted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal with a stipulation he perform 15 hours of community service.
Stephenson had been charged with unlawful possession of marijuana following a traffic stop at 7:20 p.m. Feb. 25 on the Larue Road. Stephenson reportedly possessed a wooden pipe containing burnt marijuana residue and a metal grinder with trace amounts of crushed marijuana.
■ Terri-Lynne A. Jamieson, 21, of Ohsweken, Ont., was granted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal with a stipulation she perform 15 hours of community service.
She reportedly was in possession of 4.1 grams of marijuana located during a secondary inspection March 6 at the U.S. port of entry in Rooseveltown.