MAN IN CHILD-SEX CASE LET GO WITHOUT USUAL CONDITIONS

Andrew C. James, a 37 year old man who got a suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a 4 year old boy, was released without the usual court-ordered condition that he not approach the victim.  James, of Manchester, avoided jail because the state didn't want to go to trial with a case in which the victim would have had to testify.  He was given a sentence of 30 months to five years, all suspended, with the condition that he received sex offender treatment.  James pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of aggravated sexual assault on a victim less than 10 year old.  The victim, now five, told police James had assaulted him on a least 10 different occasions.

James is a known troublemaker, a man convicted of a violent felony: attacking his wife with a screwdriver in front of his own small children.  For that, he served 30 days in jail.

(Bennington, Vermont)