A former Wells man has been sentenced to life in prison on federal child sex charges.
William Gaudet, 52, was sentenced Tuesday in Portland by U. S. District Judge George Z. Singal. Gaudet was convicted in November of interstate transporting of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and traveling interstate with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
According to court records, in 2010 Gaudet twice traveled between Maine and Pennsylvania with an 8-year-old child and sexually assaulted the child on both occasions. The child reported the abuse four years later.
“The degree of cruelty displayed here is virtually beyond belief,” Singal said when he imposed the life sentence. “I cannot imagine a more serious offense.”
Gaudet is already serving time in a New Hampshire prison. He was convicted in that state in 2012 for sexually assaulting another minor in 2001 and 2005 and sentenced to 15 to 30 years. Singal said the federal sentence will run consecutively with the New Hampshire sentence and, under federal law, Gaudet is not eligible for parole.
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