A district court judge has granted a protection from abuse order against Seth Carey, a Rumford attorney who is running as a Republican candidate for district attorney in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties.
The Lewiston Sun Journal reports that the victim believed she was in “immediate and present danger” from Carey, who she said sexually assaulted her in the home they shared.
Reached by telephone Monday, Carey said the allegations are “100 percent false.” He said the woman is a friend who was trying to get out of an abusive relationship and had nowhere else to go.
“I let her stay at my house to help her get back on her feet, gave her a place to stay, a car so she could try to work. And when I said that she had to leave, the next day she went and got a PFA. So, it’s unfortunate that the system is what it is but that’s one of the reasons I’m running for district attorney — to change the system,” he says.
The chair of the Maine Republican Party is calling on Carey to drop out of the race.
“We in the Maine GOP don’t believe in convicting people in the court of public opinion for political purposes, but when there are actual, credible allegations of sexual violence, they must be taken with the utmost seriousness,” said Dr. Demi Kouzounas.
Carey has been suspended from practicing law several times over the past ten years. He says he understands that may be a liability in his campaign. In the meantime, he says, he plans to appeal the protection order against him.
