WATERVILLE — A Waterville woman who shot her husband while turkey hunting in China will take a hunter safety course and make a donation to an anti-poaching group after pleading guilty to a criminal charge.
Janice Jacques, 58, accidentally shot her husband, Reginald Jacques, while the couple were hunting in early May. Reginald Jacques was hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Janice Jacques pleaded guilty Sept. 21 to assault while hunting, a class D crime. According to state law, a person is guilty of the charge if “while in the pursuit of wild game or game birds, he, with criminal negligence, causes bodily injury to another with the use of a dangerous weapon.”
Maloney said Jacques was given a one-year deferred disposition, which means that if she completes all the conditions placed on her for the year, the charge will be dropped.
Conditions include that Jacques attend a hunter safety course and make a $150 donation to Operation Game Thief, a nonprofit program that provides cash rewards for information about fish and wildlife poaching. Jacques also cannot commit any crimes over the course of the next year, Maloney said.
Jacques was charged by the district attorney’s office in August. At the time, Maloney said she didn’t believe Jacques intentionally shot her husband, but her actions still violated state law.
The couple were hunting turkey in a wooded area near Danforth Road in China on the morning of May 5 when the shooting happened.
At the time, the Maine Warden Service said Jacques fired her gun loaded for turkey and inadvertently hit Reginald Jacques in the face and arm. Wardens said they didn’t know what Jacques was aiming at when the gun went off.
The couple got out of the woods and were taking Reginald Jacques to get medical attention when they saw a Winslow police cruiser during a traffic stop on Route 137 and flagged him down to help.
Reginald Jacques was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta for treatment.
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