PORTLAND, Maine — The trial of a Westbrook man on a child pornography possession charge began Monday in U.S. District Court.
Joel Dudley, 29, was arrested in August 2012 after a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security discovered him downloading and sharing videos using file-sharing software, according to court documents.
Dudley also has been charged with lying under oath in April 2013 at a motion to suppress hearing on the possession of child pornography charge. He allegedly lied under oath when he testified that he asked for an attorney three times when initially interviewed by police.
A jury trial on one count of making a false declaration before the court is scheduled to be held next month.
The trial on the child pornography charge is expected to go to the jury Wednesday.
Dudley has been held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail since his arrest 18 months ago.
After he was arrested, Dudley told police that he had downloaded an estimated 500-600 videos of child pornography “out of curiosity,” according the prosecution’s brief. The Westbrook man said he would delete the videos after viewing them, and he periodically erased his storage drive using “Department of Defense-grade” wiping software, the document said.
The Westbrook man said he ran a computer salvage and repair business called D & W Services out of his apartment — and sometimes from an office in Gray — which accounts for the large amount of computer equipment found on the premises by investigators, according to court documents. Dudley said that “several other individuals had access to the entire apartment and the computer equipment inside the apartment.”
If convicted, Dudley faces up to 10 years in prison on the child pornography charge and up to five years in prison on the charge of making a false statement. He also could be fined up to $250,000 on each charge.