Former Maine nominee Eliot Cutler has admitted to state police conducting a search warrant at his Brooklyn home on Wednesday that they will find child pornography on his electronic devices, Hancock County Attorney’s Office said late Friday. The account by Attorney Matthew Foster in an interview with Bangor Daily News is the most detailed release since Wednesday’s raid on Cutler’s homes in Brooklyn and Portland. He claims police saw Cutler informing his wife, Melanie, that he had child pornography and gave them access to at least one device. On Friday, Foster’s office charged the 75-year-old with four counts of possession of sexual material involving a child under the age of 12. Cutler’s lawyer, Walter McKee, said the prosecutor’s best account was “all news to me” because he had not been presented with it. The court’s summaries of what led police to Cutler’s homes and what he confiscated are not expected to be released as early as next week. But Foster had received a summary he used to indict the case two days after he was informed of the investigation by the Attorney General’s Office in Maine. It was just before the police went to the two houses. When police arrived at his Brooklyn farmhouse overlooking Blue Hill Bay, Cutler responded immediately by saying he wanted a lawyer. But when police began seizing electronic devices under the warrant, they agreed to give them access to at least one of them. “Basically, the conversation took place between him and his wife, while the police were standing right there,” Foster said. “He told her they would find child pornography.” Foster said the advice that led to the allegations against Cutler originally came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The first came on December 1st. State police said the formal investigation into Cutler lasted about two months. Former Maine nominee Eliot Cutler bought the Amen Farm at Naskeag Point Road in Brooklyn in June 2019 for $ 1.5 million. He was at home when state police on Wednesday executed a search warrant that led to child pornography charges against Cutler and admitted he had illegal material, a prosecutor said Friday. Credit: Bill Trotter / BDN The prosecutor said there were more charges against Cutler as police examined the seized material. He also expected Cumberland County prosecutors to file charges. Cases of child pornography are often charged gradually. Federal authorities often enter at their own expense, as images are usually shared on all state lines. Cutler’s first allegations are tantamount to claiming possession of a different illegal image in the month since the case began, Foster said. Noting that police use a triptych test to assess the urgency of a child pornography arrest that takes into account whether a suspected perpetrator possesses, admits to or has access to children, Foster said “two out of three” – all but last – applies to Cutler. McKee, Cutler’s lawyer, made the arrest late Friday in some of his first comments about handling the case. After Cutler was taken to Hancock County Jail, he expressed hope that his client could pay the required $ 50,000 over the weekend and avoid a court appearance Monday. The warranty also includes not having any internet-connected device or sexually explicit material, said state police spokeswoman Shannon Moss. “I dealt with the issues raised by a completely unnecessary arrest late Friday, after the court closed, for no good reason,” McKee said in an email. The case against Cutler is one of the most popular ever against a prominent Maine political figure. Cutler, a wealthy Bangor-born lawyer, was an aide to U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie and President Jimmy Carter in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a prominent figure in international business and in the wider Portland political world. He returned to Maine politics as an independent candidate for governor in 2010, losing marginally to Republican Paul LePage after a delayed Democratic run in the race. Cutler again ran for governor in 2014, but garnered only one performance with 8 percent of the vote.
