Ex-sheriff’s deputy recharged with sexually assaulting prisoner

LACONIA — A former Belknap County Sheriff’s deputy, who was convicted four years ago for sexually assaulting a prisoner – and then had that conviction overturned on appeal – has been indicted again on similar charges.

Ernest J. Blanchette, 41, was indicted by a Belknap County grand jury on two charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and one charge of felonious sexual assault. All three indictments state that Blanchette coerced a 30-year-old female inmate into various sex acts on Sept. 18, 2014, in Belmont.

The indictments, which were issued last month, give Blanchette’s address as Winant Road, in Pittsfield.

Blanchette is charged with coercing the prisoner he was transporting to have intercourse and oral sex. Those two charges carry a potential sentence of 10 to 20 years. In addition, he is further charged with having the prisoner fondle his genitals — a charge potentially punishable by a 3½ to seven years in prison.

This makes the second time Blanchette has been charged with sexually assaulting a prisoner who was in his custody.

In 2015 he was indicted in Hillsborough County for raping an inmate in an abandoned house in Bedford. He was found guilty in April 2016 of aggravated felonious sexual assault after a one-day trial Hillsborough North Superior Court. During the trial, witnesses testified to Blanchette’s pattern of coercion of female prisoners who were in his custody. He was subsequently sentenced to serve 10 to 20 years in prison.

But the state Supreme Court reversed Blanchette’s conviction the following May, saying there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was employed by a correctional institution.

Blanchette’s lawyer, Brad Davis, argued on appeal that part of a state law's definition of a rape through coercion involves the victim being incarcerated in a correctional facility "where the actor is employed." He said Blanchette should be exempt because he was employed by the county sheriff, not the prison or jail.

That ruling did not affect the charges against Blanchette that stemmed from his alleged actions in Belknap County.

But in December 2018 the Belknap County charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault were dismissed by Superior Court Judge James D. O’Neill III because they failed to “include all the necessary elements” of the crimes charged. But O’Neill’s ruling left prosecutors free to bring new charges against Blanchette in the future.

Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois said Friday that the Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling “did not directly relate” to the charges Blanchette is now facing.

He said the high court’s decision found that when sheriff’s deputies are transporting a prisoner to or from court, they are not agents of a corrections facility, but instead are agents of the court.

“But they left open the possibility that when they are transporting a prisoner to someplace else, then they can be considered agents of the Department of Correction,” Livernois said. “This case involves a prisoner being transported somewhere else.”

During Blanchette’s 2015 trial, then-Belknap County Attorney Melissa Guldbrandsen testified that Blanchette was transporting a prisoner to and from a dental office in Belmont.

Multiple call to Blanchette’s attorney, Davis, for comment were not immediately returned Friday.

Livernois said a scheduling conference in the case is set for next Friday. He said it was too soon to tell when the case might be scheduled for trial.