FARMINGTON, Maine (WMTW) – Agnes Barden’s abuser is being released from prison Wednesday morning.

When she is released, she will have escaped with her daughter. He says it’s his only option.

“I’ve got a life to vacate,” Barden said.

She said that her husband had been abusing her for years and that she finally went to the police after he threatened to burn down their house and kill her and her daughters.

Court documents show he pleaded guilty to terrorizing domestic violence and unlawful possession of a weapon. Although he has previous convictions, he will be released after spending less than a year in prison.

“I was very adamant about this the day of sentencing, but they still let him take the plea,” Barden said.

When he heard he would be released, he panicked and turned to lawyers for advice.

“It tells us we’re on a high-mortality list,” Barden said of the advice a lawyer gave him. “Our… if he is released, he will most likely come back home and try to hurt you and your daughter. You are not safe there.”

He has a protection from abuse order against him, he will have to abide by the terms of his parole, and local law enforcement has offered him some security measures, but he doesn’t think it’s enough to protect himself and his daughter. A lawyer told him he needed an escape plan.

“She’s putting all these ideas in my head about teaching my daughter how to jump out the window and run to the nearest neighbor, teaching her not to protect you, and telling her that her life is more valuable than yours… and this is what you’re telling a seven-year-old I should be telling these things,” Barden said. “Terrible.”

Although her husband is prohibited from owning a gun, this has not stopped him from buying one in the past.

“I’m going to make sure he can’t find us because my daughter and I are not a statistic,” Barden said. “I won’t allow this.”

She packs up all her belongings and goes into hiding with her daughter.

“I don’t understand why our system is the way it is,” Barden said. “I think change needs to happen.”

Prosecutors sometimes say a plea deal is the best-case scenario.

“A lot of this comes down to not only the safety of the victim, but also keeping the defendants out of jail,” said Shira Burns, executive director of Maine Prosecutors. “They want to see that they can be rehabilitated.”

In Barden’s case, it was possible for the defendant to serve a longer sentence if the case had gone to trial, but only if the prosecutor could manage to get a guilty verdict, which Burns says is difficult in domestic violence cases where most of the abuse takes place in the background. closed doors.

“Other factors when you look at plea agreements are what the state can actually prove,” Barden said.

District Attorney Neil McLean, whose district includes Franklin County, where Barden’s husband was charged, said the prosecutor took a unique approach in this case, seeking a longer sentence by filing charges for each weapon and helping secure a longer term of probation.

Barden says she would feel safer if her abuser had electronic monitoring, and that some counties offer GPS monitoring for pre-trial inmates, but when it comes to parole, that would be up to the Maine Department of Corrections, and Maine does not. We do not have a state-level electronic monitoring program.

“Will the victim feel safe and actually be safe when the defendant is released,” Burns said. he asked. “The criminal justice system doesn’t provide that.”

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