Corinth Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 30, 2009 |
BANGOR, ME—United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that Arthur W. Cole, 41, of Corinth, Maine, was sentenced on July 30, 2009, in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, to 70 months of imprisonment to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and a $100.00 special assessment for the felony offense of Unlawful Possession of Child Pornography. Cole pleaded guilty on October 6, 2008.
According to court records, in the fall of 2006, Cole intentionally downloaded and knowingly possessed hundreds of images of child pornography to a laptop computer. Although the computer was owned by a person with whom Cole lived, it included an account and a login used by the defendant. A forensic examination of the computer also resulted in the discovery of online communications which were evidence of Cole’s possession of the child pornography.
United States Attorney Silsby explained that viewers and collectors of images which show children involved in sexual acts contribute to a cycle of abuse and are in part responsible for the harm of the children used to produce the images because they create demand for production of more child pornography. The U.S. Attorney also praised the investigation conducted by the Maine State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
