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Former Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler admitted to state police executing a search warrant at his Brooklin home on Wednesday that they would find child pornography on his electronic devices, the Hancock County district attorney said late Friday.
The account from District Attorney Matthew Foster in an interview with the Bangor Daily News is the most detailed one released so far of the Wednesday raid of Cutler’s homes in Brooklin and Portland. He alleges that police witnessed Cutler inform his wife, Melanie, that he was in possession of child pornography and gave them access to at least one device.
Eliot Cutler. Credit: Courtesy of Hancock County Jail
On Friday, Foster’s office charged the 75-year-old with four felony counts of possessing sexually explicit material involving a child under age 12. Cutler’s attorney, Walter McKee, said the prosecutor’s finer account was “all news to me” because he had not been presented with it.
Court summaries of what led police to Cutler’s homes and what they seized are not expected to be released publicly until next week at the earliest. But Foster had been provided with a summary that he used to charge the case two days after being informed of the investigation by the Maine attorney general’s office. It was shortly before police went to the two homes.
When police arrived at his Brooklin farmhouse overlooking Blue Hill Bay, Cutler immediately responded by saying he wanted a lawyer present. But when police began seizing electronic devices under the warrant, he agreed to give them access to at least one of them.
“Basically, the conversation was between him and his wife while police were standing right there,” Foster said. “He told her they’re going to find child porn.”
Foster said the tips that led to charges against Cutler originally came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The first one came on Dec. 1. State police have said the formal investigation into Cutler lasted roughly two months.
The district attorney said more charges are coming against Cutler as police review seized material. He also expected Cumberland County prosecutors to also file charges. Child pornography cases often are charged incrementally. Federal authorities often enter with charges of their own because images are commonly shared across state lines.
Cutler’s first charges amount to an allegation of possessing one different illegal image per month since tips began coming in on the case, Foster said.
Noting that police use a three-pronged test to assess the urgency of a child porn arrest that takes into account whether a suspected perpetrator possesses the material, admits it or has access to children, Foster said “two of the three” — all but the latter — applied to Cutler.
McKee, Cutler’s lawyer, hammered the late-Friday arrest in some of his first comments on the handling of the case. After Cutler was taken to the Hancock County Jail, he indicated hope that his client would be able to post the required $50,000 over the weekend and avoid a Monday court appearance. Bail conditions also include not possessing any internet-connected device or sexually explicit material, said state police spokesperson Shannon Moss.
“I’ve been dealing with the issues created by a completely unnecessary late Friday arrest, after the court has closed, for no good reason,” McKee said in an email.
As of Saturday morning, Cutler was released on bail. He was held on a $50,000 bail according to his attorney.
The case against Cutler is one of the highest-profile ones ever brought against a prominent Maine political figure. Cutler, a wealthy lawyer born in Bangor, was an aide to U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie and President Jimmy Carter in the 1960s and 1970s. He has been a major figure in international business and greater Portland’s civic world.
He returned to Maine politics as an independent gubernatorial candidate in 2010, narrowly losing to Republican Paul LePage after a late surge past the Democrat in the race. Cutler ran for governor again in 2014, but only mustered an also-ran performance at 8 percent of votes.