Marina owner jailed for breach of bail, contact with minor

A co-owner of the West Alton Marina, who was recently charged with sexual assault, has been jailed for allegedly having unsupervised contact with a minor in violation of the terms of his bail.

Brian A. Fortier, 50, was ordered held in preventative detention at the Belknap County Corrections facility until he can be fitted with an electronic monitoring device.

Prior to this latest development, Fortier had been free on $10,000 cash bail since his arrest in February.

When Fortier was arrested on charges in February he was informed several times that a condition of his bail was that he have no unsupervised contact with any person under the age of 18, according to a sworn affidavit justifying his arrest for breach of bail.

The alleged violation occurred on April 18, when, according to a witness, Fortier was talking to a 17-year-old former marina employee.

Police learned of the alleged encounter on May 3, when Det. Adam Painchaud was interviewing a juvenile female who had worked at the marina. When Painchaud interviewed the 17-year-old male the following day he said he went into Fortier’s office at the marina. Fortier asked him if he was 18 and when the juvenile said he was not Fortier said he would talk to him outside. The juvenile said the two spoke outside for 15 to 20 minutes, but that no one else was part of the conversation, according to the affidavit.

Both juveniles are witnesses in the case against John Murray, 55, who had been the manager of the facility, the affidavit states.

On Monday Superior Court Judge Jacki Smith ordered Fortier to be held at the county jail until he was outfitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and placed under the oversight of the Correction Department’s pretrial services office.

He was still in custody as of afternoon Thursday, according to information posted on the Corrections Department’s website.

Fortier was indicted last month on a charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and felonious sexual assault, in addition to two charges of witness tampering.

Fortier is the second person involved in the operation of the marina to face charges of sexually assaulting underage teenage boys who worked there. Last year Murray was arrested on 11 charges, including aggravated felonious sexual assault, manufacturing child sex abuse images, and trafficking.

The aggravated felonious sexual assault charge against Fortier alleges that he engaged in sexual activity with an alleged victim between 13 and 18 years of age, over whom Fortier held a position of authority.

The lower-level felonious sexual assault charge alleges the sexual contact caused “extreme mental anguish or trauma” for the victim.

The witness tampering indictments state Fortier offered to help pay for college or provide other financial benefits if the victim were to “stick by his side” during the investigations.

Fortier and Murray are domestic partners, according to court records, and have been reported by law enforcement to reside at the same Timber Ridge Road address in Alton.