Maine Man Pleads Guilty, Sentenced For Possession of Child Pornography

May 9, 2011

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

AUGUSTA ? A Maine man pled guilty and was sentenced to state prison on charges he possessed child pornography on his computer, Attorney General William J. Schneider announced.

David J. Oakes, age 48, pled guilty on May 6, 2011 in York County Superior Court to one count of Possession of Sexually Explicit Materials (Class C). Following the plea, Superior Court Justice G. Arthur Brennan sentenced Oakes to five years in state prison with all but two and a half years suspended, followed by two years of probation.

?Mr. Oakes used his computer to obtain child pornography over the internet,? Attorney General Schneider said. ?The exploitation of young children in the production of pornography is a serious and disturbing offense. Our office will continue to prevent the victimization of children by identifying online predators, investigating their actions and prosecuting their crimes.?

In July, 2001 Oakes pled guilty U.S. District Court, District of Maine, to one count of Knowingly Receiving Child Pornography and was sentenced in to fifty-four months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. Under the conditions of release Oakes was required to refrain from direct or indirect contact with children under the age of 18 and was prohibited from possessing or using a computer to access an on-line computer service at any location.

While living in Maine in 2007, Oakes violated the federal conditions of supervised release. When he learned that U.S. Marshals were looking for him, Oakes threw several of his computer components containing contraband out the window of his truck on the side of Killick Pond Road in Hollis. Oakes was arrested and returned to a federal penitentiary on December 28, 2007.

The computer components were discovered almost two years later by Maine Warden Service Officer Peter Herring. During a foot chase of a stolen car suspect, Herring noticed what appeared to be an abandoned computer hard drive and compact discs. He believed the items to be suspicious and returned the next day to collect them. Among the items was an external hard drive that he was able to turn on. The hard drive contained images and videos of child pornography.

?I commend the Maine Warden?s Service for their part in bringing this criminal to justice. This is a great example of our separate agencies cooperating to combat the scourge of child pornography,? said Schneider.

Forensic analysis of the external hard drive revealed the presence of 202 videos and 15,290 images of child pornography. The hard drive was connected to Oakes by the location where it was found, the dates of the files on the drive and software that was registered to Oakes.

A York County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Oakes on September 8, 2010. In early December 2010 Oakes was turned over to the York County Jail after serving his sentence in federal prison, was arraigned, and pled not guilty. $50,000 cash bail was imposed and Oakes remained in custody until his sentencing today.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kate Lawrence, the designated computer crimes prosecutor for the Attorney General?s Office with assistance from the Attorney General's Investigations division and the Lewiston Police Department.

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CONTACT: Brenda Kielty (207) 626-8577