Two-time Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler was arrested on March 25 for possessing child pornography and subsequently released on bail.
Two days prior to the arrest, search warrants were executed on two of his homes in Maine. Officers searched a farmhouse in Brooklyn and a townhome in Portland’s West End on March 23, according to The Associated Press.
Cutler, 75, was booked into Hancock County Jail with bail set at $50,000. The arrest, which came after a two-month investigation, reportedly came as a shock in his hometown of Bangor, Maine, where Cutler is a well-known political figure.
The investigation began in December 2021, after Maine state police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone in the state had either downloaded or uploaded a piece of child pornography. The investigation eventually resulted in Cutler’s arrest.
According to the arrest affidavit, Cutler was found with 10 files of child pornographic material. He has been charged with four counts of possessing sexually explicit content of children under the age of 12, with each count carrying a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
The counts are related to his alleged crimes between December 2021 and March, according to Hancock County District Attorney Matthew Foster. More materials are being reviewed and Foster expects that more charges are “on the way.” Cutler was eventually released on bail on March 26.
The 75-year-old has run for governor as an independent, using his own personal wealth to fund his two campaigns. In 2010, Cutler finished two points behind winner Paul LePage. In the 2014 race, he finished third with 8 percent of the vote.
Cutler had served previously as an aide to the late Sen. Edmund Muskie (D-Maine). He also acted as a top adviser for former President Jimmy Carter on energy and environmental issues. He then became an environmental attorney and established a law firm in Washington.
After the police searched his two homes, Cutler resigned as director of Maine-based The Learner Foundation on March 23, citing personal reasons. He has been involved with the foundation since its creation in 2007.
Don Carpenter, executive director of the organization, said they were “deeply disturbed” to learn about the “serious accusations” brought against Cutler.
