By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press March 26, 2022, 8:07 p.m. • 2 minutes reading Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email this article PORTLAND, Maine – A former Maine presidential candidate was released from prison on Saturday after being arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. Hancock County Jail officials said Eliot Cutler made bail in the afternoon after a day of detention. He was held on $ 50,000 bail. The Maine State Police Cybercrime Unit arrested Cutler without incident Friday in a house he shares with his wife in Brooklyn, about 210 miles from Portland. The 75-year-old has twice run for governor as an independent, using his personal fortune to pay for both unsuccessful campaigns. Cutler’s lawyer, Walt McKee, declined to comment to the Associated Press on Saturday. The warrants were executed at two of Cutler’s homes earlier in the week. The counts correspond to crimes that authorities said Cutler committed from December to March. However, the materials were still being examined and Hancock County Prosecutor Matthew Foster said he “would not be surprised if there were more charges on the street”. Authorities said the investigation into Cutler began with a tip in December. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has informed the Maine State Police that someone in Maine has either downloaded or uploaded an illegal image. Cutler now faces four counts of possessing sexual material for a child under the age of 12, prosecutors said. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prison officials said they had no information on when Cutler could appear in court. Cutler hails from Bangor and has been involved in politics for decades, including during his tenure under President Jimmy Carter. He ran for governor of Maine as an independent candidate in 2010 and narrowly lost in a multi-candidate race to Republican Paul LePage. LePage will continue to serve two terms as governor and will run again this year. Cutler’s second bid for governor came in 2014, when he took a distant third place.
