State Police: No Charges to Be Pursued in Carlson Sexual Abuse Investigation

WABI
August 3, 2012

http://www.wabi.tv/news/32245/state-police-no-charges-to-be-pursued-in-carlson-sexual-abuse-investigation

[State Police report]

[with video]

State police say no one will face any charges over what they may or may have know about Robert Carlson's abusive behavior before he killed himself.

Eight months after his death, State police released a final report on the case Wednesday.

Spokesperson Steve McCausland says the report will not be turned over to prosecutors because no one interviewed for it, law enforcement or otherwise, committed any crimes.

Penobscot County District Attorney Chris Almy, someone who could review the case and pursue charges, says he has not read the Carlson report, so he can't speak specifically about it.

In regards to the un-named therapist who told state police he or she had counseled at least half-a-dozen sexual abuse victims of Carlson, Almy says he'd have to know more about that person's job to determine if they're mandated by the state to report a crime and failed to do that.

Almy says people of authority who had concerns about Carlson would have needed direct knowledge that he committed a crime before they could have pursued a case.

"They can't just act on suspicions. In fact they are law enforcement. They have to have reliable knowledge. They can't just act on a suspicion and report someone," Almy says. "The perpetrator in this case is dead. Our office prosecutes live people. He is not alive. We don't have any further role in the prosecution of Mr. Carlson because there's nobody to prosecute."

Almy says if State Police believe there was inappropriate conduct by anyone interviewed in the report, they would bring that to his attention.

He says this case highlights the importance of paying attention to the warning signs of child abuse, regardless of the stature of the person who may be committing the crime.