Roy guilty on 10 charges

Published Date

By Daymond Steer
OSSIPEE — Justin Roy, of Albany, has been convicted on 10 charges stemming from a series of violent incidents that occurred at his residence in Golden Oaks Mobile Home Park in 2011. A Carroll County Superior Court jury concluded that Roy kidnapped and beat a toddler nearly to death.
Closing arguments in the Justin Roy child-abuse case were heard by a Superior Court jury on Friday afternoon. The jury came to its verdict around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
During the trial, Roy, 34, faced a dozen charges for a series of incidents that took place between Sunday, Dec. 18, and Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. At the time, the children's mother, Heather Downs, had been in a relationship with Roy. Roy and Downs had been living together at Golden Oaks Mobile Home Park with three of Downs' children. At the time, the children were 7 years old, 2 ½ years old and 11 months old.
The prosecution alleged that Roy beat the 2 ½ year old nearly to death. The toddler had to be flown to Maine Medical Center because injuries from multiple blunt force traumas were so severe.
Roy was convicted of kidnapping for allegedly keeping the toddler in a heated workshop located in a shed near the house. Further, Roy was convicted on charges that he pushed the 7 year old down, jumped on the 7 year old's legs and squirted the baby with a bottle. All of this happened early in the morning of Dec. 19.
The trial pitted deputy county attorney Susan Boone against public defenders Wade Harwood and Howard Clayman. The public defenders suggested that it was Downs who hurt the toddler.
"The trial was very hard fought," said County Attorney Robin Gordon Monday. "Susan Boone did an outstanding job."
Gordon said she was pleased with the jury's decision and was glad jurors considered all the evidence.
Originally, Roy faced a dozen charges but Judge Steven Houran dismissed two charges. One was a felony charge of criminal restraint that alleged that Roy put the 2 year old "at risk of serious bodily injury" by keeping the boy outside briefly on a freezing cold night. The judge also dismissed a charge of assault that alleged Roy pushed Downs when she attempted to visit the shed. Houran concluded that the prosecution didn't provide enough evidence on those charges to allow the jury to continue considering them.
In all, Roy was convicted of two counts of kidnapping, first-degree assault, four counts of second-degree assault, criminal restraint and two counts of simple assault.
Houran has not set a date for sentencing but he did order a pre-sentence investigation to help him make a determination. Whether or not Roy spends the rest of his life behind bars depends on how the sentence is structured but Roy does face multiple decades in prison.
Downs, meanwhile, faces a felony charge for allegedly telling her 7 year old not to tell anyone about what happened during the early morning hours of Dec. 19. She is facing another charge for allegedly failing to take her toddler to medical care in a timely manner.