Former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler could be facing more jail time for allegedly violating the terms of his probation.
Cutler was convicted in May 2023 of possession of thousands of sexually explicit materials involving children under age 12 following a months-long investigation. As part of a plea agreement, Cutler was originally sentenced to four years in prison with all but nine months suspended. He was released two months early for good behavior in 2024 and is serving six years of probation.
But as first reported by the Ellsworth American, Cutler's probation officer alleged in a complaint filed Monday that Cutler violated his probation terms by failing to notify him that he had accessed a website containing sexually explicit materials in September. According to the affidavit filed in a Hancock County court, Cutler used an external USB drive to access information about massage parlors in the San Francisco area. He then allegedly filled out an online questionnaire about his sexual preference in escorts.
Terms of his probation also required Cutler to only access the internet through phones or computers that were actively monitored. The affidavit alleges that Cutler turned in two cellphones last month that had not been monitored. While the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit did not find anything "of note" on the phones, the affidavit says the phones had been reset.
Cutler's attorney, Walt McKee, said his client had not been arrested but declined further comment on Wednesday. His probation violation hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 in the Hancock County courthouse in Ellsworth.
Cutler was a well-known attorney who ran for governor twice as an independent candidate. He narrowly lost the 2010 race to Republican Paul LePage but finished third behind LePage and Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud four years later. He remained in the public and political sphere for years afterward, advocating for independent candidates for office and by helping to lead an effort to launch a new graduate education center at the University of Southern Maine.
But in January 2022, the Maine State Police received a tip from the CyberTipline operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a download of sexually explicit materials involving children. After an initial investigation, police executed search warrants at Cutler's houses in Cape Elizabeth and Brooklin. According to documents included in his plea agreement, police found more than 80,000 images and videos involving children on Cutler's devices.
McKee disputed those figures at the time but Cutler accepted full responsibility and expressed his deep shame for his crimes. Prosecutors said at the time that Cutler's sentence — four years in prison with all but nine months suspended — was consistent with similar cases in the state.
Cutler could be ordered to serve all or part of what's left of his sentence if he's found to have violated his probation.
