A Waterville man who is accused of breaking into the home of a 73-year-old neighbor and raping her in February was indicted last week by a Kennebec County grand jury.

Mark D. Halle, 32, was indicted on two counts of gross sexual assault and one count each of burglary, aggravated assault, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and terrorizing with a dangerous weapon Feb. 7 in Waterville.

Mark Halle, seen in court in February with his attorney, Pam Ames, was indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury last week on charges he assaulted a 73-year-old Waterville neighbor. Staff file photo by Andy Molloy

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Halle’s next scheduled court appearance is May 3.

Halle was arrested Feb. 8 by Waterville police and charged with breaking into the neighbor’s home and assaulting her at gunpoint. He has been held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail in Kennebec County jail since his arrest.

He allegedly broke into the woman’s home by removing her air conditioning unit from a window early in the morning of Feb. 7. She heard a thump and came to find a stranger in her house wearing a hoodie and pointing a gun at her, police said.

Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey said in the wake of the attack that it is a good argument for residents to have guns to protect themselves.

Police said after Halle was arrested that they’d tracked footprints in the snow to a set of keys and they found a pellet gun they believed was used in the attack.

Halle had been staying with his sister, who lived on Victoria Drive near the victim for about six months.