A Maine doctor has been charged with sex trafficking for allegedly running an illicit massage business in Freeport.

Police said 68-year-old Peter O’Donnell of Yarmouth was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of sex trafficking.

According to police, O’Donnell’s business, A. Envy on Route 1 in Freeport, served as a front for prostitution, with O’Donnell recruiting and employing people to perform sexual services for clients.

Following an investigation by the Freeport and Brunswick police departments, authorities identified two people suspected to be victims of human trafficking.

“Sex trafficking remains a serious issue across the nation, and Maine is not immune. This case highlights how some individuals misuse power, wealth or influence to exploit others,” the Brunswick Police Department said in a news release.

O’Donnell was taken to the Cumberland County Jail where his bail was set at $2,500.

O’Donnell is a doctor and has an active medical license in Maine. He has a practice at 60 Forest Falls Drive in Yarmouth, which police searched as part of their investigation.

Maine Senate Democrats chose Sen. Mattie Daughtry of Brunswick to serve as chamber president, leading the majority that Democrats maintained on Nov. 5, though likely by slimmer margins as final counts are tallied. 

“Our constituents are depending on us to hold the line against cruel and unjust federal policies,” Daughtry shared in a statement Thursday night following the vote. “I will take our messaging extremely seriously because we have a duty to expand our reach, not alienate people.”

A lifelong Brunswick resident and small business owner, Daughtry has served in the Maine Legislature since 2012, when she was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives at 25 years old. After serving in the lower chamber until 2020, Daughtry was elected to the Senate and became assistant majority leader two years later. 

On Tuesday, Daughtry won reelection with 69% of the vote, with more than 95% of votes counted, according to The Associated Press. 

Among Daughtry’s achievements are helping to craft Maine’s paid family and medical leave law. The senator has also championed efforts to reduce student debt, grow education funding and protect Mainers from forever chemicals. 

“I’m committed to serving with fairness and transparency to deliver on climate change, justice reform, reproductive rights, sovereignty issues, protecting our LGBTQIA Mainers, education and so much more,” Daughtry wrote on Thursday. 

With the support of the Senate Democratic caucus, Daughtry is expected to be elected as Senate President when a formal vote is held when the Legislature convenes to get sworn in on Dec. 4. 

Senate Democrats are heading into the 132nd Legislature with a 20-15 majority. Last session, Democrats had a 9-vote margin in the Senate, with 22 seats to Republicans’ 13. One of the seats that flipped red was formerly held by outgoing Senate President Troy Jackson, District 1 in Aroostook County.

Also Thursday evening, Senate Democrats voted to elect Sen. Teresa Pierce of Falmouth as majority leader and Sen. Jill Duson of Portland as assistant majority leader. 

Pierce is wrapping her first term in the Senate, during which she chaired the Housing Committee. From 2014 to 2020, Pierce served in the House, including as chair of  the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which sets the state budget. 

“When you grow up with a coach as a father and a teacher as a mom, you learn that the most successful teams set a common goal and reach those goals when all members can do their jobs and deliver for the people who are counting on them,” Pierce wrote in a statement. “Over our next two years, Maine Senate Democrats will work together to improve all Mainers’ lives. This means creating opportunity in the face of potential hardship. This means a good-paying job, an education, a home and a community. We are excited and ready to get to work.”

Duson was elected to the senate in 2022, becoming the first Black woman to serve in the upper chamber. During her first term, Duson served on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. Prior to her time in the Legislature, she spent more than 19 years on the Portland City Council.

“My commitment to public service is fueled by my enduring faith in what we can achieve when we work together to build the community and state Maine people deserve,” Duson wrote in a statement. “This starts with addressing the challenges of today from access to affordable housing to child care so we can realize the potential of tomorrow.”

Duson also vowed to work collaboratively with leadership across the aisle. 

Senate Republicans are also expected to vote on their leadership positions this week.

Black college and high school students report receiving racist texts about being “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”

Federal, state, and local authorities are investigating the offensive messages that have been sent over the last two days.

“It’s sick and it’s wrong,” says St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. Her 17-year old son, a high school student, received the text Wednesday night.

“This awful message that children around the country have been receiving about turning them into slaves and picking them up in an unmarked brown van,” she says. “I was furious.”

Her father, the student’s grandfather, Virvus Jones, posted the message on social media.

He says it is no joking matter to harken back to something as horrible as slavery.

“I know they may think it’s funny, but I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1947 when Jim Crow was legal, so it’s not funny to me.” he says.

Virvus Jones takes note of the timing of the texts, coming a day after a contentious, and dark, election.

He added, “What it says about this country is that there are a lot of people who would like to take us back to some form of slavery or some form of being subservient to white supremacy.”

The Jones family is reporting the message, which appeared to come from a local phone number, to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

“These are some twisted individuals to target children like this, and I hope that they’re they are found and prosecuted,” says Mayor Tishaura Jones.

Civil rights groups across the country are encouraging people to report the texts to police and the FBI.

“This is alarming, both because there’s no indication who the text is from, but because all the people who received it were young African Americans,” says Margaret Huang, President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the SPLC Action Fund.

The organization, which monitors hate groups, is trying to track down the origins of the text.

“We have traced the texts being sent from emails that appear to have some international connection,” Huang says.

She says they’ve determined that the list of phone numbers may have been purchased from a company. “And we are trying to determine whether the company is indeed the source of this information and to whom they sold the information to actually make those texts possible.”

Huang says the SPLC is sharing its findings with federal officials. The FBI says it’s aware of the offensive and racist text messages and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.

Several state attorneys general and campus police departments say they have opened investigations into the source of the disturbing robotexts.

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