BANGOR, Maine — A registered sex offender who fled toward the woods behind his home when police came to question him in September 2012 was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.
Ronald H. Trecartin, 32, of Linneus told police that he downloaded videos and images of children being sexually abused while he was taking methamphetamine.
In addition to imposing the maximum sentence allowed, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced Trecartin to 20 years of supervised release after he completes his prison term. Trecartin will be required to re-register as a sex offender.
He was charged in federal court in December 2012 in connection with the more than 80 images and nearly 50 video clips of children engaged in sexually explicit activities that were found on two computers seized at his residence.
Trecartin pleaded guilty in November. He has been held without bail at the Somerset County Jail in East Madison for 18 months, which will be applied to his sentence.
Homeland Security Investigations was informed that videos of child pornography were made available for sharing from an IP address assigned to Trecartin, according to court documents. What agency or individual contacted Homeland Security Investigations is not explained in court documents.
When the agent, accompanied by troopers with the Maine State Police, members of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Houlton Police Department, went to Trecartin’s Ruth Road home to examine his computer, he ran out a back door toward a wooded area but was stopped and taken into custody at the tree line.
Trecartin was required to register as a sex offender for 10 years because of his conviction in 2005 on one count of visual sexual aggression against a child, according to information posted on the Maine Sex Offender Registry. Trecartin told investigators in September 2012 that he was on the registry for “exposing his genitals to several young kids while he was under the influence,” according to court documents.