Child pornography charges are no respecter of status in the community or past service to the nation or local government.

---

Child pornography charges are no respecter of status in the community or past service to the nation or local government.

The recent headline

"PORTLAND, Maine -- A former gubernatorial candidate in Maine was bailed out of jail on Saturday after his arrest on charges of possession of child pornography."

trades on the salacious allegation of child pornography being associated with a person with potential connections or aspirations to high office. The man who was the subject of the allegations was identified as Eliot Cutler who, the story published by the Associated Press asserted, had twice run as an independent candidate for governor of Maine funded by his own resources and had earlier served during the administration of Jimmy Carter.

The warrants in the case were said to have been issued for two homes of Eliot Cutler. The bond on a single charge of possession of child pornography was $50,000. This high bond for a person with multiple ties to the state including two homes and a history of running for public office in the state shows the bias and prejudice against a person associated with even the allegation of possession of child pornography. Persons accused of this type of crime have to be prepared to deal with these prohibitively high bonds or to languish in jail until their cases are finally disposed of by the court system.

The accused in this case had enough resources to make the bond. He had allegedly financed two campaigns to be elected as governor of Maine from his own resources, but most parties accused of these types of crimes may very well not have the economic resources to make bond on even the initial charge.

Unfortunately, this story deals with an even more troublesome aspect of the prosecution of persons accused of possession of child pornography when it continued:

"However, materials were still being reviewed, and Hancock County District Attorney Matthew Foster has said it "wouldn't surprise me if more charges were on the way.""

Law enforcement personnel scoop up the computers and electronic equipment in the home and residence of the accused and take it off to be analyzed and reviewed by their investigators at their leisure to see if there are any images or material which they consider offensive or illegal so that they can file “more charges.” The additional charges which may be filed will, in all likelihood, have significant bonds set can result in the accused remaining in custody until the accumulated charges are disposed of through trial or other resolution.

If you are arrested for child pornography possession or distribution get a lawyer to start protecting your rights at the earliest possible opportunity so that you do not get swept away and overcome and overwhelmed by the vigorous investigative and accusatory efforts of the government's prosecutorial team.