TOPSFIELD (CBS) – A Topsfield Fair sausage vendor has been charged with raping a woman on the fairgrounds Monday night.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Carl Stevens reports

Paul Carson, 44, of Rochester, New Hampshire, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Newburyport District Court.

He was ordered held on $25,000 bail.

The alleged victim told police she was walking down a dark alley close to a row of bathrooms when she was grabbed from behind and sexually assaulted.

She said her attacker threatened to kill her if she screamed.

Carson claims he was smoking a cigarette and calling his girlfriend at the time of the alleged attack.

Topsfield police chief Evan Haglund calls the incident “very disturbing.”

“The fair themselves do run CORI background checks on their personnel and we do additional checks on the list of people that come over here to ensure the safety of the community as best we can.” Haglund told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Wednesday.

Haglund said he knows of no incidents this severe at the fair, which, when the weather’s good, draws more than 400,000 people in a week.