A key Democratic donor and two-time independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler was arrested in a child pornography case.
Democratic Donor Arrested in Child Pornography Case
As per the Maine State Police, Cutler was detained on March 25, as he was found possessing unlawful sexual material.
Although he was released on bail of $50,000, he is set to appear in a county court on May 3.
Hancock County Jail has released Eliot Cutler’s mug shot following his arrest yesterday afternoon. The two-time gubernatorial candidate is being charged with four counts of child pornography #NEWSCENTERmaine pic.twitter.com/gumwxqDiYa
— Jackie Mundry (@j_mundry) March 26, 2022
Reportedly, the Democratic donor started doing the crime in December last year.
Until his arrest, Cutler remained involved in politics for a long time, as he worked on the presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter and Senator Edmund Muskie.
Although he ran for the office of Maine governor in 2010 and 2014, Republican candidate Paul LePage won both of those elections.
As per the Maine GOP Twitter handle, Cutler gave political donations to both Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
When the allegations against him surfaced last week, he resigned from Lerner Foundation’s board, according to the announcement of the executive director of the foundation.
In his statement, the executive director showed his disbelief over the accusations, stating no one could believe Cutler was involved in such a thing.
Democrat Megadonor Eliot Cutler has been arrested.
He's given tens of thousands to Democrat campaigns nationwide, including Janet Mills. #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/ZakryxpdoC
— Maine GOP (@mainegop) March 25, 2022
Likewise, the statement mentioned Cutler remained involved in crafting high-level strategies during his work with the organization.
The investigations started once the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted the Maine Police about illegal activity on the internet.
Reportedly, the complaint noted someone either uploaded or downloaded an illegal image.
The NCMEC is mandated by the federal government to receive critical information from Internet Service Providers (ISP) and some technology firms. This way, it acts as a watchdog against people who try to access or distribute illegal material.
After identifying that material, the organization informs the police, which finds the actual beast behind the incident by using an IP address.
More Charges Can Come Against Cutler
On March 23, the police searched Cutler’s house in Brooklin, after which he was arrested on March 25.
Matt Foster, the attorney of Hancock and Washington District, said the accused is charged on four counts at the moment.
However, Foster added he would not be surprised if more charges against Cutler unfold once the investigations proceed, considering terabytes of data were taken in custody during the two raids.
The police denied to comment about the reason for the search on Wednesday, but Cutler’s arrest unveiled the whole incident.
Cutler, who is 75 years old, ran for the governorship in 2010 with the backing of Sen. Angus King.
Although he just managed to get only a small percentage of votes, his run is still considered a spoiler for the Democratic candidate, as some voters sided with Cutler.
While on bail, Cutler is not allowed to possess any device which can connect him to the internet.
