Eliot Cutler was released Tuesday morning after a Washington County judge found no probable cause on his sixth alleged probation violation.
The former two-time gubernatorial candidate, who was on probation for possessing child sex abuse materials, was arrested June 11 after allegedly refusing to sign a probation treatment plan with internet restrictions that were inconsistent with a prior court ruling.
Justice Patrick Larson released Cutler after saying the state should not have allowed Cutler to be arrested on the latest alleged violation. Cutler appeared before the judge in a Machias courtroom.
“This motion was just as I expected: a motion that says that Eliot was somehow wrong to refuse to sign an agreement that was directly contrary to the court’s specific order on this very issue,” Cutler’s defense attorney, Walter McKee, said in a written statement Tuesday. “He correctly said ‘no I am not signing that’, and then, incredibly, he was arrested.
“Justice Larson addressed this very issue at the last court hearing. The treatment provider obviously never bothered to follow up and check the court record that had already addressed the issue,” McKee said. “We hear, time and again, how Eliot is supposedly getting special treatment. He sure is getting special treatment – special bad treatment when it comes to all of these alleged violations.”
Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger has consistently opposed Cutler’s release and asked the court to fully revoke the 79-year-old’s 39-month probation.
Granger said in a written statement Tuesday afternoon that the state did not have advance notice of Tuesday’s probable cause hearing. The state received a notice for an initial appearance Monday evening, he said, adding that it came as a “complete surprise” when Justice Larson moved to conduct a probable cause hearing.
The district attorney said without prior notice the state was unable to secure testimony from the state’s sexual behavior treatment director who discharged Cutler for refusing to sign the “standard treatment contract,” which amounted to his sixth alleged probation violation. There was no deadline to hold the probable cause hearing by Tuesday, Granger said.
“Equally troubling, the arresting probation officer tried to attend the hearing via Zoom but for reasons that remain unclear, he was not admitted into the Zoom hearing,” Granger said. “The Officer could have provided testimony about the events which led to Mr. Cutler’s arrest. Without witnesses, the State was left only to rely on the Probation Officer’s Motion to Revoke for the purpose of establishing probable cause.”
Granger added that Cutler had “considerable problems complying” with his release conditions, pointing to Cutler’s arrest in February by Maine State Police officers who allegedly found him in a South Portland hotel clutching a brown bag of pornographic DVDs, violating the terms of his probation. After the arrest, Cutler told police that he “couldn’t help himself” and that he had struggled with the problem for over 60 years. While testifying in court in May, Cutler detailed a yearslong struggle with what he and McKee described as “pornography addiction.”
At the time of his February arrest, Cutler had been in private sexual behavior treatment weekly or bi-weekly for nearly three years, Granger said, adding that he had even completed a residential treatment program.
Granger said he was also concerned that Justice Larson had lifted the probation condition of participating in sexual behavior treatment.
“Obviously, Mr. Cutler has had considerable problems complying with his bail and probation conditions,” Granger said. “Fortunately, the court left open the possibility it could still order him to attend the Problematic Sexual Behavior Treatment Program later but the judge indicated he would not do so until after final hearing on all pending motions to revoke probation.”
Cutler awaits sentencing on three criminal violations of conditions of release and three probation violations, according to Granger.
A judge released Cutler on a $10,000 bail in late May before continuing a probation revocation hearing to August, giving the state time to review Cutler’s electronic devices. During his probation, Cutler is limited to accessing the Internet only under the supervision of his wife or brother, according to a prior court order.