LEBANON – Police have arrested a man in connection with sexually abusing a 10 year old child in Lebanon.
Gene Pease, a 71-year-old Etna resident, is facing two counts of pattern aggravated felonious sexual assault and a misdemeanor count of simple assault.
Each felony count carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison.
The Lebanon Police Department began its investigation into Pease on Monday after learning of an incident that allegedly occurred on Saturday night in Lebanon.
Interviewed by police on Tuesday, Pease allegedly admitted “that this started a few years before and it wasn’t one incident.”
The Orford Police Department and the Grafton County Sheriff’s Office assisted Lebanon Police in its investigation, according to a Lebanon Police press release from Wednesday.
Lebanon police arrested Pease on Tuesday and he was arraigned on Wednesday in Lebanon Circuit Court, entering no plea to the two pattern sexual assault felonies and not guilty to the misdemeanor simple assault.
A Lebanon Circuit Court judge ordered Pease released on conditions prohibiting him from having any contact with the victim or any person under 18 years old.
A voicemail left for the New Hampshire Public Defender’s Office in Orford, appointed by the court to represent Pease, was not immediately returned on Thursday.
He is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on July 13.
“The Lebanon Police Department remains committed to protecting children and other vulnerable members of our community,” Lebanon police stated in a news release on Wednesday.
