Man sentenced to teach firearms safety

By ALAN CROWELL
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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SKOWHEGAN -- A Norridgewock man who pleaded no contest to child endangerment for providing the ammunition used in a fatal shooting will help educate others on firearm safety.

Scott Rioux, 34, pleaded no contest as part of an agreement with prosecutors earlier this month to three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of hunting on Sunday. No contest means the defendant neither admits nor disputes the charges, although it has the same effect as a guilty plea.

Those charges were related to the fatal shooting of Joshua Sawyer, 15, of Pittsfield in March in a cornfield by Cody Rioux, Scott Rioux's son, then 14.

Scott Rioux was sentenced to perform 50 hours of community service within a year for providing the boys with ammunition that day.

William Stokes, chief of the criminal division of the Maine Attorney General's Office, said the expectation is that Rioux will spend at least part of that time participating in hunter safety courses and emphasizing the need to exercise care and supervision when providing minors with ammunition for firearms.

Stokes said that by talking about his own experience, Rioux can have a positive effect on firearm safety.

"It is much more valuable to society to have him do that than spending three days in the county jail," said Stokes.

Rioux's attorney, Walter Hanstein, of Farmington, characterized his client as a very responsible gun owner who kept his firearms locked up and his ammunition secured in a separate location.

Hanstein said Rioux pleaded no contest to avoid forcing family members and loved ones to testify at a trial.

"Any option other than doing this and getting this behind him would have meant a trial and would have meant the need to testify and relive this tragedy," said Hanstein.

Hanstein said it is legal in Maine to provide ammunition to minors if you are a guardian and if they are supervised.

"I think the state's own evidence would suggest that there was some supervision," said Hanstein.

Rioux was engaged to be married to Sawyer's mother when the accident occurred, according to Walter E. McKee, who is defending Cody Rioux.

McKee has said the shooting was an accident that happened when the two boys, who were good friends, were hunting and target practicing with Joshua's younger brother, Nathan Sawyer, then 13.