AUGUSTA -- A judge on Thursday denied a bid for a new trial by rapist and kidnapper Albert F. Dumas.

Justice Nancy Mills rejected Dumas' claim that he was entitled to a new trial because his defense attorney, Pamela Ames, was faulty.

"He was represented very effectively," Mills wrote in her order.

Dumas pleaded guilty March 7, 2007, to kidnapping a 14-year-old Augusta girl at knifepoint, then raping and terrorizing her for three hours.

"The court ruled that he had utterly failed to make any showing that he was entitled to relief," said District Attorney Evert Fowle. "We're very pleased with the court's decision and trust this is the last we've heard from Mr. Dumas for the next 37 years or so."

At a hearing on Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court, Dumas maintained Ames failed to do her job adequately because she was influenced by death threats against her, failed to present evidence about his childhood at sentencing, failed to call character witnesses and unduly influenced him to plead guilty, among other grounds.

On the stand, Dumas said his case was "a media freak show."

He pleaded guilty in March 2007 to three counts of gross sexual assault and one count each of terrorizing, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping.

Dumas, 37, of Whitefield and formerly of Augusta, was sentenced a month later to 70 years in prison, with all but 40 years suspended and 12 years' probation. He is serving the unsuspended 40-year term at Maine State Prison.

"I took the plea agreement to get it over with," Dumas testified Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court.

The plea offer from the district attorney set a 40-year cap on the initial period of incarceration and gave Ames the opportunity to argue for less.

"It was a media freak show," Dumas said. "I wasn't getting a fair trial. I wasn't getting anything; it was a freak show."

At Tuesday's hearing, only two members of the public watched Dumas testify, and no one was demonstrating outside -- unlike the response at trial from a public enraged by his crimes.

At the time he kidnapped and raped the Augusta girl on Aug. 13, 2006, Dumas was on probation for a kidnapping and attempted gross sexual assault.

In her decision, Mills wrote, "By his own admission, the petitioner wanted the plea agreement and he wanted the case to be over. It was his decision to plead guilty and he knew that by pleading, he was giving up his right to a trial."

She concluded, "The petitioner testified that he 'was not happy with any of it.' But his predicament then, and now, results from his criminal conduct and his circumstances."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com