Man Indicted On 19 Felonies In Forced Sex Incident In Pelham

NASHUA, NH — A Massachusetts man has been indicted on 11 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault in connection with forceful, unconsentual sex that took place in Pelham in March and April. James Garon, 46, of Dracut, Massachusetts, was indicted on the 11 counts this month at Hillsborough County Superior Court. The grand jury also indicted Garon on one count of burglary, six counts of attempted violation of a protective order and one count of attempted witness tampering.

The indictments state that Garon committed burglary when he entered the victim's Pelham home at night on March 9 without permission, while having a protective order prohibiting him from contacting her. On that same date, Garon is charged with committing two aggravated felonious sexual assault acts against her — the indictments state he had sex with her while forcing her down on the bed, while she was repeatedly yelling, "James stop!"

A second incident occurred April 2, also in Pelham. According to the grand jury indictments, Garon forced the woman to have sex with him by applying physical force, by holding her down on the bed with his weight. The victim at the time was indicating she was not giving consent, by trying to get off the bed and to crawl off the bed, the indictments state. He committed four sexual acts against the woman while applying physical force while she was indicating she was not willing, according to the indictments. At one point he also used the element of surprise to have sex with her, giving her no chance to flee or resist, the indictments state. In connection with the April 2 incident, Garon was indicted on nine aggravated felonious sexual assault charges.

Garon was also indicted this week on an attempted violation of a protective order charge, stating he placed a phone call to the victim on April 22 while a protective order prohibited him from contacting her. The following day, he placed five more phone calls to the woman, resulting in five additional attempted violation of a protective order charges, according to the indictments, issued Tuesday. Garon previously has been convicted of violating a protective order on April 10, according to the indictments. In addition, Garon was indicted on an attempted witness tampering charge stating that between April 6 and April 20 he indicated to a family member that he would be much better off if the victim dropped the felony charges, and that "someone needs to speak to (the victim) on his behalf."

The burglary charge and the 11 aggravated felonious sexual assault charges are all Class A felonies, each carrying a maximum possible sentence of 7 to 15 years in state prison if Garon is convicted. The six counts of attempted violation of a protective order and the attempted witness tampering charge are Class B felonies, each carrying a maximum possible sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years in state prison.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means a grand jury has found sufficient evidence in this case to warrant a trial.