LANDRY SEEKS TRIAL
Ex-Councilman Wants Judge to Hear Harassment Case Involving Girl
Ex-Farmington council member withdraws probation request.
Former Farmington Town Council member Jon Landry, who police say engaged in a yearslong extramarital relationship with a Newington woman beginning when she was a teenager, withdrew his request for accelerated rehabilitation Tuesday and asked for a trial.
Landry was charged in July with one count each of harassment and interfering with police.
A hearing on his application for the special form of probation, which allows first-time offenders to avoid jail and a criminal record, was to take place before New Britain Superior Judge Joan K. Alexander.
Instead, prosecutor David Clifton told Alexander that Landry’s accuser opposed the request for AR, wanted Landry to have a conviction on his record and wanted a court order to keep Landry away from her. With that, Landry’s lawyer, H. Brian Dumeer, withdrew the request for accelerated rehabilitation and told the judge that Landry wanted a trial before a judge.
Alexander said Landry would have to first receive a plea offer before she would act on the request to move the case to the trial list. She continued the case to Dec. 13.
The common procedure is for a prosecutor or judge to make a plea offer to a defendant, then for the defendant to be granted a period of time to consider the offer. If a defendant rejects an offer, the case is placed on the trial list. Since Landry is requesting a trial before a judge rather than a jury, his case could be called in for trial sooner.
Landry, 43, quickly left the New Britain courthouse after the brief appearance before the judge.
Landry’s accuser was expected to be in court Tuesday to speak against Landry’s request for accelerated rehabilitation, but was not there for the brief hearing.
Police arrested Landry after a monthslong investigation into the young woman’s allegations. She has not been identified and is referred to as “Jane Doe” in court records. She is a Newington resident.
The warrant for Landry’s arrest describes a relationship that began online when the victim was 12 years old, and then continued with sex after she turned 16, which is the age of consent in Connecticut.
The affidavit relates how Landry, as “Jason” — an alias that masked his real life as a politician with a wife and two young daughters — first led the girl to believe he was a 17-year-old living with his parents in Farmington after they met on AOL Instant Messenger. They communicated for years before meeting in person, and “Doe reported that their relationship became sexual in 2013 when she performed oral sex on Davis,” the affidavit said.
The two even entered a sex “contract” that “set rules for their ‘friend-with-sexual benefits’ relationship. … This contract was meant to keep both Doe and Jason Davis on the same page with regard to the sexual expectations of and specific obligations to the other party.” The four-page document was titled “The Jadago Four [expletive] Subscription Policy,” the affidavit said.
The contract came up in a dispute they had as she appeared to be pulling away from Landry, police said. On Aug. 31, 2017, “Landry appear[ed] to begin an argument with Doe regarding the way she treats him. During that messaging conversation Landry texted Doe ‘If you want to buy yourself out of the contract let me know, I’m thinking maybe $500.’ Doe responded ‘It’s one [expletive]; I’ll do it.’ According to Doe, she believes the next time she and Landry had sexual intercourse was on 09/03/17 in the West Hartford Toys R Us parking lot,” according to police.
The accuser is now 22, two decades younger than the youthful-looking Landry.
In later years, “Jason” pressured the victim into having sex with him at times when she wanted to stop, police said. He reportedly threatened in July 2017 to contact the victim’s school about her romantic involvement with another student there, saying he would ask if it’s “against the rules to mess around with other students,” the affidavit said. The harassment charge stems from Landry’s attempt to “instill a fear in her” of what would happen if they stopped having sex, the police said.
In addition, “Jane Doe” reported that she received text-message threats from a “Jessica Monroe,” whose identity police have not been able to track down, saying inappropriate photos that had been in “Jason’s” possession would be released on the internet if she stopped having sex with him.
Newington police are still investigating who “Jessica Monroe” is, which “may result in additional arrest warrants/ charges for ... Landry or another suspect,” the affidavit said. That investigation continues, police said.
Erika Landry filed for divorce on Sept. 25 in Tacoma, Wash. In the filing, she indicates that she and her husband began living in separate households on July 22, less than two weeks after the warrant detailing Jon Landry’s alleged crimes was made public.
“The marriage is irretrievably broken,” the filing states. “I ask the court to dissolve our marriage and find that our marital community ended on July 22, 2018.” The couple lived in Connecticut from March 2006 to July. Neither lives in Connecticut any longer, according to the court filing.
The children live with their mother and Erika Landry has asked for child support and to change her name back to her maiden name.
Despite the divorce filing and separate living arrangement, Landry’s personal website features photos of him with his wife and two daughters.