AUGUSTA — Riverview Psychiatric Center patient Charles Douglas Miles Jr. pleaded no contest Tuesday to destroying more than $1,000 worth of property in an August 2014 rampage at the state hospital.
He was found guilty of aggravated criminal mischief that included destroying windows, elevator scanners, exit signs and other items, and was sentenced to two years in jail with all but five months suspended and two years of probation.
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Under a plea agreement, charges of terrorizing Riverview staff members that same day were dismissed along with charges of terrorizing and criminal threatening stemming from an incident also at Riverview on April 21, 2014. Riverview treats people found not criminally responsible for offenses and those sent there under court order.
Miles was committed originally to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services in 1999 after being found not criminally responsible for burning down the Skowhegan Fairgrounds and causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
Since Miles has already served five months while in custody on the property damage charges, the sentence essentially puts him back in the state forensic hospital where the damage occurred.
“Part of the purpose of putting someone at Riverview on probation is so that it’s possible if they don’t follow a written treatment plan, they can be sent back to the Intensive Mental Health Unit at the prison without committing new criminal conduct,” said Miles’ attorney, Harold Hainke.
Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Miles’ underlying crimes are those of violence against property, not against people. Other Riverview patients have been convicted of some particularly vicious assaults on hospital staff members.
Maloney said Miles must do what probation orders. “If he commits another crime at Riverview, there is a year and seven months he could be sentenced to,” she said.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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