Judge tosses sex offender's motion to take back guilty plea due to his state of mind

Christopher Lunny in jail garb and shackles at Sept. 23, 2016 sentencing. (Rochester Voice file photo); left, police mugshot

DOVER - A former Springvale, Maine, man who pleaded guilty in 2016 to several sex assaults against a young girl in Rochester threw a Hail Mary for a retrial in April when he told a judge he didn't fully comprehend what he was doing when he offered up his plea, but a ruling earlier this week by the same judge tossed out his motion for a new trial and will keep him in prison for the completion of his sentence.

Christopher Lunny, 46, and his defense lawyer had represented that Lunny was not in a proper state of mind when he pleaded guilty on Sept. 21, 2016, and so shouldn't be held accountable for his plea. He wanted the plea and sentence set aside.

However, earlier this week Superior Court Judge Steven M. Houran noted in a lengthy ruling that Lunny had been asked several times in several different ways during the plea hearing if he understood the ramifications of what he was doing, to which Lunny answered "yes" each time.

Lunny will now have to complete his sentence of two consecutive 10-20 year terms and one 5-10 year sentence for a total of 25 years minimum behind bars.

Prior to the unexpected plea and sentencing, Lunny, who was out on bail, allegedly made a desperate attempt to flee to Canada when he sought to get a special visa at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth.

At the time Lunny, who had been fitted with a GPS to monitor his movements while out on bail, had been placed on a Friday afternoon at the center where he tried to get an emergency passport in his brother's name.

He reportedly told the clerk his brother was in Canada and had had a stroke.

When Lunny pressed the clerk that the passport be delivered overnight instead of waiting a couple of days, visa center personnel did an Internet search on his name and noted the news accounts of his upcoming trial, prompting his arrest.

Lunny was picked up at his Springvale home on fugitive from justice charges and returned to New Hampshire where his bail had been revoked.

Later this month he'll have a bench trial on the bail jumping charge, a Class B felony that could tack another seven years onto his sentence.

And in September he faces another trial on sex assault charges against a different girl in 2006. At the time of the alleged assault she would've been 14 or 15, County Attorney Tom Velardi said on Friday.

Lunny was originally indicted in June 2014 on five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, a special felony due to the victim's age, which was between 5 and 9 at the time of the incidents. Each count could have resulted in a 10-30 year sentence.

Court records allege he engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse of the girl in Rochester between 2004 and 2008, including rape and other various sexual acts.