Carnival worker accused of raping underage girls

MARSHFIELD - An 18-year-old carnival worker allegedly raped two young girls he met over the weekend at the Marshfield Fair, prosecutors said yesterday.

Jeffrey D. Witham of Oxford, Maine, allegedly raped the girls, ages 13 and 14, at one of the girl's homes on Sunday.

He pleaded not guilty in Plymouth District Court yesterday to two counts of rape of a child with force, indecent assault and battery, indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, kidnapping, and assault and battery.

Bridget Norton Middleton, a spokeswoman for the Plymouth district attorney's office, said Witham was arrested shortly after midnight yesterday as he was walking near the fair grounds. She said he worked for Fiesta Shows, a Seabrook, N.H., carnival company that calls itself "New England's largest carnival."

The victims told police they recently met Witham, a newly hired ticket collector for the carnival's rides, and that they had spoken to him on their cellphones before he went to one girl's home Sunday, according to court records.

The girls were alone in the house when Witham arrived, they said. He entered the living room and began to touch them inappropriately, the girls told police.

"The suspect then grabbed victim #1 and took her into her bedroom down the hall and climbed on top of her on her bed," according to a police report.

"She told him to stop and kept saying no but he proceeded to have intercourse with her and wouldn't get off of her," the report said. "She then said he eventually got off of her and went back into the living room, where he then assaulted victim #2, again."

After the alleged rapes, Witham became upset when he couldn't find his clothes, according to the report. "Both victims were in fear of him," according to the report. "Jeff kept getting more angry while looking for his clothes."

The girls tried to flee the house, but he caught one of them outside. "The suspect grabbed hold of her and bit her on the neck," according to the report. "He then started dragging her into the woods as she attempted to fight him off" and started choking her.

One of the girls called a parent, who contacted Marshfield police.

Gene Dean, owner of Fiesta Shows, which has been running the Marshfield Fair's carnival for the past 37 years, said Witham had been hired about two weeks ago and had only worked at one other carnival in Acton, Maine.

He said Witham had passed a required check of the Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Information system before working at the Marshfield Fair. In 2005, the year after two people died on carnival rides in Agawam and Shrewsbury, state officials began requiring carnival companies run criminal background checks on all ride operators.

Dean said his company, which has about 120 employees, who this summer will run nearly 50 carnivals in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire, has never had an employee accused of such a serious crime.

"Our prayers and sympathy go out to the families involved," Dean said. "We're heartbroken about this. It's a very difficult day."

Lenny LaForest, president of the Marshfield Fair, declined to comment on whether the case would alter the 141-year-old fair's relationship with Fiesta Shows. He said he hopes it will not deter the thousands of daily visitors from continuing to fill the grounds until the fair ends Sunday.

"This is still just a great place to come for family entertainment," he said. "I want to emphasize this happened off fair grounds, and that we have plenty of uniformed police and our own grounds security."

At the fair yesterday, children screamed as they rode the Twirling Tornado, music pulsated, and the smell of buttered popcorn mixed with that of pizza.

Jonathon Smith, 37, drove up from Rhode Island with his young daughter and son. "It seems safe, and there are a lot of people walking around that work here," he said.

Others felt less secure. Walking with another girl, Brianna McPat, 17, of Braintree, said they have been attending the fair for the past three years and found "a lot of creepy men."

"We just stay together," she said. "If we come at night, we come with a lot of guy friends. . . . I don't really think it's safe to be alone."

A Plymouth lawyer representing Witham did not return calls seeking comment, but the accused carnival worker's sister, Amber Enterline, questioned the charges.

Reached at the family's home in Maine, Enterline said her younger brother had graduated this year from Poland Spring Academy and hoped to go on to a career working at Disney World. She said he previously worked at another carnival company.

She said her brother had never had any problems with the law.

"I can't imagine him doing any of that," she said. "The last thing I knew he had a girlfriend. . . . This really puts me in shock. For him to hit on a 13- or 14-year-old kid, it's just crazy."

A judge ordered Witham held on $150,000 bail.

He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 5.