Delorme not guilty of assaulting 5-year-old

A Havre man accused of threatening a 5-year-old the child with a screwdriver, as well as possessing drugs and paraphernalia was acquitted of all felony charges.

Some of charges against Jason R. Delorme were dismissed by the prosecution after the judge excluded evidence.

Delorme, born in 1980, was sentenced to time served on a misdemeanor conviction after a trial in Havre last week.

Delorme took the stand in his own defense during the lengthy one-day trial last week in state District Court in Havre. After deliberating from 6:50 to 8:45 p.m., the jury found him not guilty of felony counts of assault with a weapon and partner or family member assault. The jury convicted Delorme of a misdemeanor count of obstructing a peace officer.

District Judge Dan Boucher sentenced Delorme to six months in jail for the misdemeanor, with credit for time served discharging the sentence.

Delorme was charged with the crimes, along with a felony count of possession of drugs and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, last December.

He was accused of pulling a 5-year-old relative out of a car Dec. 15 after the child’s birthday party and running down an alley with her. His mother, Deborah Dees, who was with the child told another child to call police and ran after him, she told officers. She said the child got away from Delorme, and she saw that he had a screwdriver in his hand.

Delorme was not present when the officers arrived to investigate, but later returned. When officers arrived, they said, they ordered Delorme to to put up his hands, turn around and get on his knees. He instead began running away, but the officers were able to restrain him, they said.

The child told officers that Delorme had threatened her with a screwdriver. Dees allowed officers to search a tent in her back yard in which he was staying, and the officers reported finding a substance that tested positive as methamphetamine and found drug paraphernalia.

The prosecution dropped the drug charges after Boucher ruled in favor of a defense motion, saying the tent should not have been searched without a warrant and suppressing the evidence found in the search.