CHANGES COME SLOWLY FOR MAINE

WVOM-FM SHOW HIGHLIGHTS CHANGE IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW

New Braintree, MA  February 20, 2012  Officer Mike Sefton was a guest on the radio show of Rick Tyler at WVOM-FM in Bangor, Maine.  WVOM calls itself the Voice of Maine.  Mr. Tyler has taken a keen interest in the domestic violence in Maine ever since the June 13, 2011 murders of Amy Bagley Lake and her two children at the hands of her husband Steven Lake.  Officer Sefton was a guest with co-author Brian Gagan of Scottsdale, AZ and Kelly Gay, Newport, ME.  Ms. Gay is a former friend of Amy Lake and participated in the psychological autopsy conducted by Sefton and Gagan in late 2011. Officer Sefton noted the impressive changes that have started taking place in Maine - including legislation on bail conditions in the past 6 months.  Sefton spoke about the importance of assessment of persons arrested for domestic violence in terms of predicting dangerousness.  "Police do not want another step in the arrest process.  Given the sometimes chaotic circumstances surrounding a DV arrest having the police assess their prisoners for future domestic violence may appear to pose an undue hardship", according to Sefton.  "The assessment process should be short and quick - a couple tools are available including the Dangerousness Assessment and ODARA - a tool used here in Maine."  There are cities and towns in Maine already using the ODARA instrument that was first published in Canada.


The show also featured a spokesperson from a local Woman's Advocacy group and a group of University of Maine athletes who have joined to take a stand against violence towards women.  The show was co-hosted by Federal Marshall Noel Marsh.  The MAAV group from University of Maine Orono stands for Maine Athletes Against Violence.


The show offered listeners from Brunswick to Bangor 2 hours of dialogue about domestic violence and the changes that are taking place in Maine.  In his State-of-the State address Governor Paul LePage renounced DV and openly disclosed his own history of abuse.  Governor LePage called DV a "problem for men".  Later, State Supreme Court Honorable Justice Leigh Saufley spoke about the need for bail to include a careful review of the criminal history prior to allowing men accused of domestic violence free from custody.