A Boothbay Harbor man who admittedly found his victims through online dating sites, social media and recovery groups pleaded guilty in Lincoln County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 20 to two felony and two misdemeanor counts of theft by deception.

Judge Daniel Billings sentenced Michael Hawkins to 3 and 1/2 years of incarceration, all but eight months suspended, and two years of probation. Hawkins is also prohibited from all contact with his victims and their families, must make monetary restitution to his victims, and is forbidden from using online dating sites while on probation.

Boothbay Harbor Police Officer Larry Brown, who arrested Hawkins, 31, last year, began his investigation into the case after being contacted by a Dresden woman, who said she was swindled by Hawkins. The woman meticulously documented her interactions with Hawkins, providing Brown with 11 pages of details and over 50 text messages. Through Facebook, she found other victims willing to testify against Hawkins, elevating the matter from a civil case to a criminal one.

On Feb. 20, Prosecuting Attorney Katie Hollstrom summarized the state’s case against Hawkins, who admitted on Friday to stealing over $5,000 from four victims over the course of a year.

Hollstrom said Hawkins lied about his name, occupation, financial status, property and even his son’s and mother’s health status, and concocted various emergency situations to convince victims to “loan” him money. 

The Dresden victim, who was instrumental in Hawkins arrest, indictment and now conviction, read a statement prior to sentencing. Simply dressed and composed, the young woman, spoke unwaveringly as she described how Hawkins “emotionally and psychologically tortured me for two months.”

A recently-divorced single mother, she met Hawkins via the OkCupid online dating site, where he represented himself as a law student and used the last name of Carroll. Within two days of meeting, Hawkins messaged the victim in a state of crisis, asking to borrow over $1,000 to get his car out of impoundment.

The woman drove to Portland with her young child in the car to bring Hawkins the money. Then began “a nightmarish roller coaster” of texted promises, lies, excuses and threats from Hawkins as the victim attempted to regain her money. It was when she told her story on Facebook that the situation became clear: she was not alone.

“Preying upon and exploiting vulnerable people like single mothers and those recovering from alcohol addiction is completely unconscionable. It shows a complete lack of remorse for hurting others,” she told the court. “When other victims began contacting me in response to my Facebook post and the full extent of Mike’s manipulations became overwhelmingly clear to me, I was sickened.”

The victim said she now felt responsible to protect others from Hawkins. She  asked the judge to add another prohibition to Hawkins’ sentence in addition to the stipulations agreed to by the prosecution and defense attorneys. 

“I ask you not allow him access to social media or dating sites while he is on probation. He used the anonymity of the Internet to hide his true identity and to manipulate his victims. Please do not put others at risk like I was,” she said.

Hawkins’ Attorney James Mason said the prohibition on online dating sites was acceptable but continued access to social media was important to Hawkins as a recovering addict.

Judge Billings added the online dating prohibition to Hawkins’ sentence but agreed with Mason that a social media restriction might affect Hawkins’ recovery.

Billings said that although the sentence “might not seem a lot to victims who were manipulated and hurt, it is a significant sentence for someone for this type of crime with no prior jail time.”

Billings warned Hawkins, “You should definitely keep in mind, when you get out of jail you will have three years hanging over your head. If you go back to this behavior, if there are any violations of this kind, I expect the state will be looking for a long sentence.”

Billings offered high praise for the two victims in the courtroom, whose statements ensured Hawkins’ conviction.

“I congratulate both of you for stepping up and working with law enforcement and being willing to communicate with the court today,” Billings said. “That’s important, it’s appreciated. If it weren’t for people willing to do what you’ve done, these things would go on for much longer and impact many more people. You should be proud of yourselves.”

After the sentencing, the two victims stood outside the courtroom with Officer Brown and expressed their satisfaction and relief with the outcome.

Chief Bob Hasch said the department was glad for Friday’s resolution of a case that has been a priority for Officer Brown for some time. 

“Larry did a lot of work on this case and he and the victims did a wonderful job of piecing it together,” Chief Hasch said, “We’re glad for closure for the victims. This has been a long process and we know this caused them a lot of anguish.”

Hawkins still awaits sentencing for similar charges in Cumberland County.

Related: OkCupid con man indicted