Springvale man who tried to flee to Canada pleads guilty in sex assaults on girl

Christopher Lunny (Sanford Police photo)

DOVER - After more than two years of frustrating trial delays and a whirlwind weekend in which prosecutors say he tried to flee to Canada, a Springvale man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a young girl in Rochester for several years pleaded guilty to all charges associated with the case.

In a move no one saw coming, Christopher Lunny, 44, abruptly struck a plea deal with prosecutors on Wednesday, the day opening arguments in his trial were set to begin in Strafford County Superior Court.

The victim in the case, now 16, was scheduled to testify Wednesday afternoon.

With the plea deal, Lunny, indicted on five felonious sexual assault charges in June 2014, will serve two consecutive 10-20 year terms and one 5-10 year sentence for a total of 25 years minimum behind bars.

The plea deal allows the victim and family to avoid the trauma a trial would likely bring and was noted in court on Wednesday as being a typical sentence for such a heinous pattern of abuse.

Lunny's desperate attempt to flee last weekend was thwarted by U.S. Marshals who picked him up at his Springvale home around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, a story exclusively reported Monday in The Lebanon Voice.

The warrant for his arrest was for default or breach of bail conditions, Sanford Police Deputy Chief Tim Strout said.

Assistant Strafford County Attorney Alysia Cassotis told Judge Steven Houran on Tuesday that Lunny, who had been fitted with a GPS to monitor his movements while out on bail, had been placed Friday afternoon at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth 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, they did an Internet search on his name and noted the news accounts of his upcoming trial, prompting his arrest.

Lunny was arraigned on fugitive from justice charges on Monday in Springvale District Court and returned to New Hampshire where his bail has been revoked.

Lunny was 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.

Lunny's official sentencing is scheduled for Friday in Strafford County Superior Court.