Attorney General Aaron Frey announced that his office has filed an enforcement action under the Maine Civil Rights Act against Alexander Treshinsky, age 35, of Kittery, Maine. Treshinsky hired the victim, a 35-year-old immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, to replace flooring in his business. When the victim requested payment for the services, the defendant then sent the victim a series of threatening, vulgar and xenophobic messages. The Attorney General’s complaint requests the court to order that Mr. Treshinsky have no contact with the victim or any member of his family and comply the Maine Civil Rights Act in the future.
In particular, Treshinsky sent text messages that included vile, graphic, images and threatened to commit a sexual act against the victim’s daughter. He texted, “Remember my face, ‘boss’”; “Go away you ugly [expletive]. You dumb [expletive] igger (sic)”; “Do you want help to leave the country. Not your country…My country”; and “Why did your tribe sell you away? They don’t want you hahahahaha.” Treshinsky continued to make threats on two voicemails to the victim: “Get the [expletive] out of business in America. I will be your worst enemy until you are gone”; “I promise you…I will chase you down until your [expletive] children’s children’s children give up”; “Understand…you have a [expletive] enemy now. I will follow you until the end of the [expletive] earth until you fall off it”; and “I’m coming after you bud. You, your business, everything.”
The Maine Civil Rights Act authorizes the Attorney General to seek a court order against any person who intentionally interferes or attempts to intentionally interfere with another person’s legal rights through the threat of physical force or violence or engaging in conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress. Under the law, all persons have the right to engage in lawful activities without being subjected to such conduct when it is motivated by bias against the victim’s race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
“While the behavior of the defendant was grossly inappropriate under any circumstances, his actions are particularly egregious because he targeted the victim because of their race and national origin,” said Attorney General Frey. “Bias-based harassment will not be tolerated in this state and I will use the Maine Civil Rights Act to ensure that violators are held to account.”
A knowing violation of an order issued under the Civil Rights Act is a Class D crime punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
The Attorney General’s Office would like to thank the York Police Department for their work on the case.
Original source can be found here.