BY TIMOTHY LA ROCHE
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NEWPORT — A 63-year-old Claremont man was sentenced on Friday to jail time after he pleaded guilty to molesting two children.
Lewis Ouellette pleaded guilty in Sullivan County Superior Court to two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against two children. Judge Brian Tucker sentenced him to serve one year in the Sullivan County House of Corrections, with a consecutive five- to 10-year sentence in New Hampshire State Prison suspended upon good behavior.
Ouellette is ordered to have no contact with a minor unless they are “in the presence of a responsible adult who is aware of the nature of [his] background and this offense, and who has been approved by [his] parole/probation officer.” He is also ordered to register as a sex offender and complete sex offender treatment.
An additional two charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault were dropped in a plea deal struck by Assistant County Attorney Alex Scott. Each charge carries a potential 10 to 20 years sentence in New Hampshire State Prison with a $4,000 fine.
The charges arose late-last year, when Ouellette admitted to molesting two children under 13 years old who had been intermittently living with him from Aug. 1, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2015. The victims disclosed the events to investigators in an April 7, 2017 Child Advocacy Center interview.
On Dec. 11, Ouellette consented to an hour-long voluntary interview with Claremont police in which investigators detailed the allegations against him. Although Ouellette denied the allegations initially, he later admitted to them.
However, Ouellette filed a motion to suppress on March 5, alleging that his admission was not voluntary. According to court documents, Captain Colby Casey told Ouellette after nearly half-an-hour of the interview that “today is not about going to jail.”
“I told you, you are not going to get arrested, certainly not today,” Casey said, according to court documents. “You’re going to leave. You can leave whenever you want to. Those are your rights.”
The motion to suppress argued that Casey’s statement that Ouellette would not be arrested led to an involuntary admission. Ouellette signed forms acknowledging his consent to the interview before leaving.
However, on March 14, Scott filed to extend the deadline to respond to the motion to suppress, citing a plea arraignment in the works. The following day, Ouellette submitted his notice of intent to plead guilty.
By pleading guilty on Friday to the charges against him, Ouellette is “admitting to the truth of the charges,” according to court documents he signed.
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