Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Father, a convicted felon, not supposed to have firearm

Ex-officer accused of giving dad shotgun

Former Monmouth officer turns himself in to Winthrop police. later released

By Craig Crosby ccrosby@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

A former Monmouth police officer faces a felony charge after allegedly buying a shotgun for a family member who's prohibited from owning one.

Clint Childs, 25, of East Winthrop, turned himself in to Winthrop police Tuesday on a warrant charging him with aggravated forgery. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

According to an affidavit filed in Kennebec County Superior Court by Winthrop police Detective Peter Struck, police and game wardens searched the Winthrop home of Childs' father, Maurice Childs, on Nov. 15, 2010, and found a 12-gauge shotgun in Maurice Childs' room.

Maurice Childs is a convicted felon prohibited from owning firearms, Struck wrote.

The search also turned up a receipt from Audette's Hardware Store indicating Clint Childs purchased the shotgun at the Winthrop store Oct. 15, Struck said.

Maurice Childs said he gave his son a shotgun that did not work to trade in for a newer model at Audette's.

"Maurice said the gun was for him, however all of the guns were going to be Clint's someday," Struck wrote.

Struck interviewed Clint Childs via telephone on Nov. 17.

"Clint said he knew his father could not buy firearms but thought he could posses them," Struck wrote. "Clint said a few years ago the game wardens seized his father's guns and then later returned them to his father."

Struck told Clint Childs he knew Childs had purchased the shotgun for his father.

"Clint said that was supposed to have been for him, but his father is the one who used it," Struck wrote.

When filling out the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms form required to purchase the shotgun, Clint Childs checked a box indicating he was purchasing the weapon for himself, Struck wrote.

"I believe that Clint lied on the ATF form 4473 when he answered ... yes," Struck wrote. "I believe Clint was purchasing the firearm for his father, Maurice Childs, who Clint knows could not purchase or possess firearms because Maurice is a convicted felon."

The charge against Clint Childs is the latest episode of tumult in the department.

Childs was hired by former Monmouth Police Chief Robert Annese, who stepped down in December 2009 amid allegations that he misused his authority to investigate a citizen. Annese later resigned.

Voters during Annese's leadership rejected five police budgets, spawning numerous nonbinding votes about whether the town wanted to keep the department.

Annese was hired in June 2006 after the resignation of Chief Charles Shaw, who led a department with low morale that failed to thoroughly investigate crimes, a Maine Chiefs of Police Association report said.

Current Chief Kevin Conger -- hired to take over the department in April -- earned solid support from residents and town administrators, but announced last month he will step down to take another position. The town has started searching for his replacement.

Childs -- who worked full time for the Monmouth Police Department from June 28, 2009, to Dec. 7, 2010 -- was terminated just days short of the one-year anniversary of his graduation from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, which also ends the town's probationary period, Town Manager Curtis Lunt said.

"He was a probationary employee and was terminated by us," Lunt said. "His termination was not related to any investigation or alleged criminal activity."

Clint Childs was prohibited from carrying a weapon his final month with the Monmouth police, Lunt said.

That's because his wife secured a protection-from-abuse order against him on Nov. 2, 2010, complaining Childs had threatened her and was behaving erratically.

The order required Clint Childs to relinquish any firearms. A second order prohibited Childs from contacting his wife or children except under specific circumstances.

A new protection-from-abuse order issued Dec. 6, 2010, contained no firearm ban.

John Rogers, director of the Maine Criminal Justice Committee which oversees police certification, said he had received a report on the internal investigation conducted by the Monmouth police and was awaiting a report on the Winthrop police investigation before the board decides whether to revoke Childs' police certification.

"There's a process that takes place," Rogers said. "We're not at that stage yet."

Craig Crosby--621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com