Well known disc jockey and ex-Maine Sports Hall of Famer Dana Wilson is facing a new charge of violating his probation for allegedly refusing to complete sex offender counseling.
Wilson, 70, formerly of Brewer, was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2014. He was sentenced to 2½ years in prison with all but nine months suspended to be followed by four years of probation.
Wilson appeared Wednesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center on a summons and denied violating his probation.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 18.
Wilson worked for decades in Greater Bangor as a disc jockey at weddings, school dances and private parties. He also had a lawn care business. Wilson said at his sentencing in 2014 that the indictment and ensuing publicity destroyed both businesses.
Conditions of his probation include completing sex offender counseling, registering as a sex offender for 10 years after his release and only having one computer that was to be registered with his probation officer.
Wilson served his sentence at the Penobscot County Jail from Nov. 11, 2014, until July 10, 2015, when he was released after earning time off for good behavior, according to jail personnel.
Wilson then moved to The Villages, Florida, to live in his parents’ retirement home. In October 2017, he was charged with violating his probation for having more than one computer.
He was convicted on that charge and returned to the Bangor jail for 5½ months in 2019. Wilson was released on Feb. 7, 2020, and ordered to serve out the rest of his probation in the Bangor area.
Brendan Trainor, assistant district attorney for Penobscot County, filed the most recent charge because Wilson has just one month to serve on probation, and his probation officer estimated that it would take four to six months for Wilson to complete the sex offender program, according to court documents. Trainor is seeking to have Wilson’s probation extended, then terminated, once he completes counseling.
Wilson’s attorney, Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor, said that he would argue that his client had fulfilled his probation requirements and he should be allowed to return to Florida.
The case that led to the charges against Wilson began when Brewer police Sgt. Jay Munson went to Wilson’s home on Feb. 14, 2011, after learning from the group Internet Crimes Against Children that someone with an IP address at the home where Wilson lived had received a video known to portray child pornography, according to testimony at Wilson’s jury-waived trial in late June 2014.
Wilson was never accused of sexually touching or abusing any children.
Under Maine law, he faced up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 for the Class C crime of possession of child pornography. Wilson had no prior criminal history when he was charged.
Wilson was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in May 2012, a month before he was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury, for his basketball feats at Bangor’s Husson College, now Husson University, where he graduated in 1974. The hall’s board of directors revoked that honor on May 29, 2013.