Eliot Cutler, a former Democrat gubernatorial candidate for Maine and prominent Democrat donor has pleaded guilty to possessing images and videos of child sex abuse.
Cutler was less than 10,000 votes away from becoming governor of Maine in 2010 when he lost to Republican Paul LePage.
Eliot Cutler, 76, pleaded guilty to the charges on Thursday after authorities discovered thousands of images of children under the age of 12 being sexually abused in his possession.
According to centralmaine.com, prosecutors said Cutler downloaded over 80,000 images of children younger than 12 in often violent and unusual sexual acts.
Despite the volume of the materials and their “egregious nature”, he was given a sweetheart deal and will serve only nine months in jail.
Just the News reported:
The plea deal calls for Cutler to serve nine months in jail out of a 4-year sentence plus six years on probation for four counts of possessing sexually explicit material of a child under 12.
The 76-year-old Cutler expressed remorse and made no excuses for his addiction. He said he would devote his remaining years to redemption.
He told the judge that he had neglected opportunities to reach out for help and was “embarrassed, ashamed, and deeply, deeply sorry” for his actions. “I failed to meet my obligations to myself, to my family, to my friends and to civilized society,” he added.
The investigation into Cutler began with a tip in December of 2021, according to the AP. The tip came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which informed Maine State Police that someone in Maine had either downloaded or uploaded a single illegal image.
