HOULTON, Maine — Houlton’s town manager was ordered to comply with a Department of Corrections nightly curfew and daily supervision by the Aroostook County Community Corrections Program after posting bail last week.
Cameron Clark was arrested and jailed by the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday on two counts: Class B felony victim tampering and Class D misdemeanor domestic violence assault.
Clark continues to handle the business affairs — overseeing municipal employees and managing a $14.7 million budget — for this Aroostook County town of about 6,000.
Bail was set at $1,000 cash and as part of the conditions of his release, Clark was ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with the victim. He must report to the Aroostook County Community Corrections Program caseworker daily by phone and once a week in person.
He is under a nightly 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew at his New Limerick home. If town meetings or other municipal business interfere with the curfew, Clark would have to get permission ahead of time to attend, according to the conditions of his release.
Additionally, he must remain employed and is required to tell law enforcement that he is currently under corrections program supervision if he is stopped for any reason. As town manager, Clark currently supervises the chief of police.
His bail can be revoked or additional charges added if he does not comply with the mandated conditions, according to the court.
On Monday, the Bangor Daily News obtained a 24-page police affidavit recounting the explicit details of the Sept. 12 incident. The victim, a woman Clark allegedly invited to his home to spend the night, told police that he repeatedly shoved her with both hands backward off his porch, the final thrust allegedly catapulting her into the bushes, according to the affidavit.
“It was forceful enough of a push that my shoes and glasses went flying off,” the victim said in a written statement to Deputy Benjamin Boutilier. “After landing on the ground, it took me several minutes to get up. It had knocked the wind out of me.”
Following multiple news accounts of his arrest, public outage has grown on Facebook and other social media platforms. Many are calling on the Town Council to suspend or fire Clark.
Town Council Chairperson Jane Torres has defended Clark’s right to remain at the helm because she said it is a personal matter and he is innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a public letter posted on the Facebook group Houlton Talks, directed to Torres and the remainder of the Town Council, resident Joshua Atkinson made what he called his formal case for the removal of the town manager.
“The question is not whether Mr. Clark will be convicted, but whether he can continue to serve as an effective and trusted leader while under indictment for such serious offenses,” he said. “By any objective standard of public administration, the answer is no.”
In the letter, Atkinson said that his violent crime charge damages the public’s confidence in Clark’s judgment, character and leadership. If he continues to serve the town, it “undermines the credibility of our entire municipal government,” he said.
A Houlton business owner, Ryan Lounder, pointed out that last year, the Ellsworth City Council placed then City Manager, Glenn Moshier, on paid administrative leave for a conduct-related issue.
“He should at least be on administrative leave until an investigation is done the same way any other government person would be literally anywhere else,” Lounder said. “We can’t pretend like it didn’t happen. He cannot just get to keep the position and not have any backlash on his actions. Domestic violence is never okay.”
Boutilier obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday, following a lengthy investigation that included in-person interviews with the victim, two witnesses and Clark, as well as reports from the Houlton Police Department and search warrants for Clark’s property and Snapchat conversations between Clark and the victim following the alleged incident.
The victim said in her statement to the deputy that she had injured her tailbone, making it difficult to walk the following day, as well as bruising on her buttocks. Chief Deputy Sheriff Erica Pelletier photographed multiple bruises to the right of a very large purple bruise, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Clark threatened that he would make sure the victim did not get a job she had recently applied for and that she would never work at another job in the Town of Houlton if she reported the incident. If she did report it, he would claim the whole thing was self-defense, according to the affidavit.
During his interview with Boutilier, Clark admitted that he had his hands on the victim trying to restrain her and they were both shoving each other. He also said that he may have made references to his connections to area banks that could have been seen as intimidation.
Clark was appointed town manager in Houlton earlier this year after Jeremy Smith unexpectedly resigned from the role in December 2024. He was initially appointed interim town manager in January, then officially appointed in April.
According to his contract with the town, obtained by the BDN through a Freedom on Access Act request, Clark is paid $131,000 and he is still under a six-month probationary status. The Town Council may terminate him for violations of the law and he would not be entitled to a severance package, the contract states.
If convicted on the victim tampering charge, he could potentially serve 10 years in prison and pay a $20,000 fine.
The Town Council has called a special meeting with the town attorney and town manager for 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at the council chambers.
Torres said Friday that the council will monitor the situation and reassess his employment status as the court decides the case.
