WEST GARDINER, Maine — Court documents released Wednesday give further insight into disturbing allegations against a Kennebec County sheriff's deputy.
Deputy Daniel Ross was arrested by Maine State Police while on duty Monday for alleged domestic violence incidents.
The 29-year-old has been charged with three counts of domestic violence assault, three counts of domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, unlawful sexual contact, domestic violence terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a release Wednesday.
In an affidavit revealed during Ross's first court appearance Wednesday, Detective Christian Behr of the Kennebec and Somerset County District Attorney's Office said he spoke with Ross's wife Monday, and she reported to him that Ross had physically assaulted and threatened her several times since March 2022.
The alleged incidents included Ross threatening his wife with a taser, gun, and knife, according to court documents. Ross's wife told police that, on multiple occasions, he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her down when he was upset. She told police that he once hit her face so hard she felt her jaw "pop" from the force.
Ross's wife told police she noticed the "control piece" of her relationship with her husband early on and that he had a temper and was jealous.
"She said there was one time Dan was working and he came home angry, because her ex-husband contacted Dan with concerns that she was not eating enough due to stress. [She] said it was stress from dealing with Dan," according to court documents. "[She] said she had raspberries that Dan was 'trying to get me to eat and I wasn't doing it fast enough.' Dan took out his taser and pressed it against her thigh and told her she had '3 seconds' to eat or he was going to Tase her."
On other occasions, Ross allegedly left his wife with head pain and bruises, and there were multiple alleged incidents involving choking.
"There were a few seconds when he strangled her that she could not breathe causing her to have a 'moment of panic,'" according to the affidavit.
The affidavit outlines multiple allegations of threats with a gun, too.
Ross's wife told police he talked about killing her and himself while holding a gun. She alleged that, on one occasion, Ross said he was going to kill his own 5-year-old daughter and then himself with a gun.
Ross's wife also detailed an incident in which Ross allegedly forced himself on her sexually, saying he told her, "You can either take your clothes off or I'm going to ruin them by ripping them off you" after allegedly painfully poking his fingers hard into her vagina and anus.
Behr said in his affidavit that Ross's wife told him she "felt that when Dan has nothing left to lose, due to this report, that Dan will pull the trigger and kill her 100%. Dan has told [her] if she left him, he would torture her for days as he has previously held weapons to her and threatened her."
Maine State Police Sgt. Bethany Couturier said in an affidavit Wednesday that she spoke with Ross after his arrest and that he "admitted to committing the offense of a domestic violence assault, and stated clearly it was a domestic assault."
"Daniel said over the past weekend he became out of control and open hand slapped Nicole in the face with his right hand when he wanted to have sex," according to Couturier's affidavit.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a release Wednesday that the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office received a report Monday about "ongoing domestic violence incidents" occurring at a home in West Gardiner.
When Maine State Police troopers arrived at the home, they spoke with Ross's wife and then contacted Maine State Police. Troopers arrested Ross around 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to police.
Ross is on paid administrative leave, Moss said. He's being held at the Somerset County Jail.
"At this time the Sheriff cannot comment any further or add any more than was released by the Maine State Police as there is a criminal investigation and an internal investigation," Lt. Chris Read of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office told NEWS CENTER Maine in an email.
Ross started working at the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office on March 16, 2021. Below is a Facebook post by the sheriff's office that day, welcoming Ross to the department.
"You will see a new face protecting the citizens and visitors of Kennebec County," the sheriff's office wrote.