Havre de Grace: Charles Albert Maslin, former Havre de Grace Councilman convicted of sexually abusing a boy who grew up in the Maslin home, was arrested last week after allegedly violating his parole.
Charles Albert "Chuck" Maslin, the former Havre de Grace councilman who was convicted of sexually abusing a boy who grew up in the Maslin family home, was arrested last week after allegedly violating his condition of release from prison.
Maslin was released on mandatory supervision from the Division of Corrections in December 2007, after earning enough credits, a spokesman for the state prison system said.
As a condition of his release, Maslin was ordered not to have contact with children under the age of 18, according to Mark Vernarelli, director of public information for Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Maslin allegedly violated that condition, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Havre de Grace police served the warrant on Maslin Aug. 9.
"It's virtually impossible to have no contact with children if you are operating, or in the vicinity of, a snowball stand, which is the allegation presented to us by a concerned citizen a few days ago," Vernarelli wrote in an e-mail Monday.
Lori Maslin, Charles Maslin's wife, owns Snowball Experience in Havre de Grace.
Vernarelli explained Charles Maslin's parole agent made the condition clear during supervision visits. If he is found guilty of the violation, the penalty will depend upon the Maryland Parole Commission's investigation. He could go back to jail.
Charles Maslin is being held at a state intake prison in Baltimore awaiting a hearing before the parole commission, which is expected to take place within 30 days, according to Vernarelli.
His arrest on the alleged parole violation came just two days before the annual Havre de Grace Seafood Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is coordinated by Lori Maslin.
Charles Maslin was convicted in 1997 of sexually molesting James Christopher Waters when Waters was between the ages of 9 and 13, according to published stories in The Aegis and The Record.
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the verdict in 1999 on the grounds that Harford Circuit Court Judge Thomas Marshall erred when he did not allow Charles Maslin's attorneys to tell the jury about a pending $1.6 million civil lawsuit Waters filed against Maslin.
The appellate court's decision stated the jury may have concluded Waters had "feelings of animosity" toward Charles Maslin and stood to make financial gains at the outcome of the case.
The prosecutor said at the time the two cases did not overlap and involved different evidence.
Later that year, Charles Maslin was convicted a second time of molesting the same boy and sentenced to 15 years in state prison, the same sentence handed down the first time.
He was released three years early, Vernarelli explained in an e-mail Tuesday, once "he had attained enough credits and served enough of his sentence [the percentage based upon the violence of the crime] to be released back to society."
"In other words," Vernarelli continued, "[Maslin] had to be let out — but would remain under the supervision of Parole and Probation until the entire prison sentence that was originally imposed would be expired."
Charles Maslin was elected to the Havre de Grace City Council in 1996 and was required by law to vacate the seat when he was sentenced the first time in December 1997.
When the seat was vacated, then-mayor Phil Barker appointed Wayne Dougherty to fill it. Dougherty has since gone on to become the city's mayor and was elected to his third term in May.
In the same May city election, Lori Maslin was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat on the city council.
This story has been updated from an earlier version to reflect a clarification of the circumstances of Charles Maslin's release from prison.