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SOUTH PARIS, Maine (AP) — A former education technician at Sacopee Valley High School denies allegations that he engaged in a sex act with a teenage student at the Hiram school in February.
Twenty-three-year-old Zachariah Sherburne pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Oxford County Unified Court to charges of felony gross sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor.
Court documents say Sherburne's position with School Administrative District 55 gave him disciplinary authority over the girl. But after Sherburne's plea, defense attorney Allan Lobozzo filed a motion to dismiss the case because his client wasn't employed by the district at the time of the alleged abuse.
Lobozzo argued that because Maine's age of consent is 16, the only thing that would've made Sherburne's conduct criminal was him having "supervisory or disciplinary authority" over the victim.
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