Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced today that his office has filed a civil rights complaint against a Bath couple accused of targeting their neighbors with racist and xenophobic harassment.
The complaint, filed in Sagadahoc County Superior Court, alleges that Andrew and Ranada Pinkham, of Bath, persistently harassed a Black family from the Democratic Republic of Congo that moved in next door in April.
The complaint alleges that the Pinkhams repeatedly directed racial slurs at the family and banged on the shared walls that connected the two apartments, causing "severe emotional distress," to the point where the family's children were afraid to play outside.
Frey said the family was "relentlessly targeted in their home based on who they are and where they come from."
Frey is asking the court to prohibit the Pinkhams from having any contact with their neighbors. Violation of an injunction under the Maine Civil Rights Act can be punished by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
