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Man told daughter to fight if attacked (A brave 7 year old)
Kennebec Journal (Maine) ^ | 10/03/03 | Danielle Gamiz

Posted on 10/03/2003 12:01:31 PM PDT by NewHampshireDuo

AUGUSTA — Just weeks before his 7-year-old daughter was allegedly assaulted by a man with prior assault convictions, Scott Durant told his little girl what to do if someone ever attacked her.

After hearing of an adult who tried to get some children to ride in a car, Durant sat his daughter down and said, "If somebody ever tries this on you don't be afraid. Be mad."

On Monday, when a man approached the girl and her two younger sisters while they played in their back yard, she fought back.

"She's tall and strong for a 7-year-old," Durant said. "I think she tried kicking (him)."

Darrell L. McCauley, a 22-year-old man who had been living in a facility that serves mentally ill men and women on Stone Street next door to the Durant home, was arrested Monday for probation violations, and also was charged with assault after he allegedly grabbed and kissed the young girl. He is being held at the Kennebec County jail.

He was previously convicted of assaulting a police officer and of sexual assault.

Police Chief Wayne McCamish said Thursday he would not release further information about the incident because he wants to speak to Kennebec and Somerset County District Attorney Evert Fowle about the possibility of bringing additional charges against McCauley.

"I want more serious charges brought in light of the information I have in front of me," McCamish said.

Durant, an employee of the Jefferson School system, lives with his wife, Lisa, three daughters and a son in a duplex next door to the apartment complex at 92 Stone St. where McCauley was living for the past 1 1/2 months.

The Durants' three daughters were playing in their back yard when McCauley allegedly approached them. The youngest girls — a 3-year-old and 5-year-old — fled, while the 7-year-old stayed, Durant said.

Lisa Durant was paring apples in the kitchen at the time and ran to the yard when she heard the girls screaming. She said she found McCauley assaulting her daughter.

Durant, who is eight months pregnant, worked to pry McCauley away from her daughter as employees from Employment Specialists of Maine — which operates the home in which McCauley lived — intervened and helped to restrain him until police arrived.

Scott Durant said he was proud of his daughter for not being a "passive victim." He said he later asked the girl how her sisters got away.

"She said, 'I stood there to fight him so that they could get away,' " he said.

McCauley's probation officer, Roy Gutfinski, said Thursday that McCauley had been receiving assistance from two ESM employees at all times. They were responsible for making sure he ate, went to bed on time and didn't leave the facility.

At the time of Monday's alleged assault, Gutfinski said ESM personnel were investigating a chemical smell in the building away from McCauley.

Gutfinski said ESM is not responsible for going after its clients or restraining them, but is required to call authorities when a situation arises similar to the one Monday.

Augusta Mayor William Dowling's response to the event, calling for better oversight of people with dangerous pasts being released into local neighborhoods, has been an encouragement to Durant and his family.

"I'm pretty touched by that because people have been on this case that I'm not even aware of. Other people have picked up the ball," Durant said.

When he and his family moved into their home in July 2002, the neighboring building was vacant. The family learned through rumor about four months later that the complex would house people with mental illness. No formal information was given to them about McCauley.

Lisa Durant said had she known about McCauley's history, she would not have allowed her children play in the back yard.

"It's only lucky that the incident didn't go any further," she said. "We as parents have worked so hard to preserve their innocence. To have it go further, it would have been dashed in a matter of seconds."

While Durant said she respects the special needs of the mentally ill, she wants the apartment complex next door to be closed.

Gutfinski also said the state should provide a better type of facility, with security alarms and tighter oversight, to house such people as McCauley, who need extra monitoring.

"There needs to be a change in the system," he said.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: attacker; child; mentallyill; rapist
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To: LibKill
Maybe Governor Schwartzenegger could set an example, and offer pardons to anyone who kills a sex offender.

Or, maybe I'm just dreaming...

41 posted on 10/08/2003 4:12:35 PM PDT by hunter112
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To: humblegunner
I believe you have a daughter..

I believe that you are correct.

Here is her at 9 years old with you teaching her to shoot your SKS.



Here is her at 13 (fully suppressed automatic Uzi)


42 posted on 10/08/2003 4:33:44 PM PDT by Eaker (Amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.............hmmmmmmmmm ;<)
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To: NewHampshireDuo
"She said, 'I stood there to fight him so that they could get away,' " he said.

I know Dad *has* to be very proud of his little hero.

43 posted on 10/08/2003 4:40:38 PM PDT by Yeti
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To: ctlpdad
excuse me... BIG OVARIES!
44 posted on 10/08/2003 4:43:56 PM PDT by pageonetoo (in God I trust, not the g'umt!)
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To: Free_at_last_-2001
yeah...several times each election.
45 posted on 10/08/2003 4:46:09 PM PDT by cajun-jack
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To: M1Tanker
It amazes me that most schools won't let a student even defend himself in a fight if he is set on by a bunch of thugs. Defending yourself is a basic human right.

I don't know why parents send their kids to public schools with this type of policy. I really don't.
46 posted on 10/08/2003 4:48:13 PM PDT by ladylib
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To: Eaker

47 posted on 10/08/2003 4:50:37 PM PDT by humblegunner
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To: Brad Cloven
i always taught my daughters to fight, kick, scream, bite, scratch and wiggle like a worm on a hook. fortunately, none of this was necessary until my youngest was 17 and a guy pulled beside her one night and pointed at her rear tire..thinking she was having a flat, she pulled in to the nearest business parking lot.

I had bout the girls the same kind of mace we used at the p;rison i worked at at the time and they had always been instructed to never roll the window down even for a cop.

she cracked the window about 4 inches and the guy tried to grab toher...she was smart enough to have not killed the engine, she sprayed him (as best she could) and gassed it...there was a cop on a speed trap behind the business and she whipped up next to his car, crying and shaking and told him what happend and he immediately put out the alert and less than 2 mins later, the guy was on the ground with several shotguns pointed at him and 4 or 5 officers beggin him to move.

daughter later learned, that this guy had been doing this for a while and had raped at least 5 women/girls.

p.s. he is still in prison.
48 posted on 10/08/2003 5:04:47 PM PDT by cajun-jack
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To: cajun-jack
Do let us know when he gets out...
49 posted on 10/08/2003 5:16:45 PM PDT by null and void
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To: Sabertooth
Make prison psychiatrists and parole board members live one week a month in halfway houses of released cons from the next county. No sweetheart deals.

Better yet, put the parolees in the spare bedrooms of said bureaucrats.

50 posted on 10/08/2003 5:20:59 PM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: highbottom

I want off your list


51 posted on 09/17/2004 10:12:11 PM PDT by highbottom
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