Maine lawyer charged with domestic violence
By The Associated Press
Thursday, August 07, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The chief executive officer of Maine's Iris Network faces criminal charges after flying into a rage over his daughter’s $5,000 cell phone bill.
James Phipps, 50, grabbed his 20-year-old daughter and repeatedly spanked her in a dispute over the cell phone bill and her boyfriend, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department said. There is some dispute over who is responsible for the bill, investigators said.
The Iris Network is a nonprofit organization that helps people who are visually impaired or blind become independent. Phipps, a Portland lawyer, is blind.
Members of the Iris Network’s board say it’s too early to say whether the incident would affect his job there, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Katherine Ray, chairwoman of the board’s personnel committee, said she was reserving comment until the board chairman, Dr. David Stuchiner, has a chance to speak with Phipps about the incident. He has been out of town and was unavailable for comment.
"I don’t see how it impacts the Iris Network until we find out the whole story," said Nancy Hawes. "We’re not planning to do anything right now."
Phipps did not return a telephone call, and his daughter could not be reached.
Investigators say Phipps spanked his daughter repeatedly with his hand as a dispute escalated in his home on Chebeague Island. The daughter then went upstairs to call her boyfriend and another scuffle broke out that involved the daughter taking her father’s cell phone, authorities say.
Phipps was a Cumberland town councilor when Chebeague was part of that town. After the island gained its independence, Phipps was elected to serve on the new town’s transition team.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168115&zoneid=500
By The Associated Press
Thursday, August 07, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The chief executive officer of Maine's Iris Network faces criminal charges after flying into a rage over his daughter’s $5,000 cell phone bill.
James Phipps, 50, grabbed his 20-year-old daughter and repeatedly spanked her in a dispute over the cell phone bill and her boyfriend, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department said. There is some dispute over who is responsible for the bill, investigators said.
The Iris Network is a nonprofit organization that helps people who are visually impaired or blind become independent. Phipps, a Portland lawyer, is blind.
Members of the Iris Network’s board say it’s too early to say whether the incident would affect his job there, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Katherine Ray, chairwoman of the board’s personnel committee, said she was reserving comment until the board chairman, Dr. David Stuchiner, has a chance to speak with Phipps about the incident. He has been out of town and was unavailable for comment.
"I don’t see how it impacts the Iris Network until we find out the whole story," said Nancy Hawes. "We’re not planning to do anything right now."
Phipps did not return a telephone call, and his daughter could not be reached.
Investigators say Phipps spanked his daughter repeatedly with his hand as a dispute escalated in his home on Chebeague Island. The daughter then went upstairs to call her boyfriend and another scuffle broke out that involved the daughter taking her father’s cell phone, authorities say.
Phipps was a Cumberland town councilor when Chebeague was part of that town. After the island gained its independence, Phipps was elected to serve on the new town’s transition team.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168115&zoneid=500
