Maine Man Arrested on Child Exploitation Charges

 BOSTON – A Maine man was charged yesterday in federal court in Boston for travelling to have sex with a minor and child pornography offenses.

Patrick Plummer, 29, of Parsonsfield, Maine, was charged in a criminal complaint with traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a person under 18 years of age and transportation of child pornography.

According to the complaint, Plummer communicated via various messaging applications with an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl and devised a plan to meet the purported child in Georgetown, Mass. to have sex. On Sept. 26, 2020, Plummer allegedly drove from Maine to a predetermined location in Georgetown, as they had planned. Officers arrested Plummer on scene, and found him in possession of four cell phones, a computer and a spring-release knife. Preliminary analysis of the electronic evidence seized from Plummer’s car revealed in excess of 100 images and videos of child pornography on at least three of the devices. Preliminary analysis also revealed evidence that Plummer was logged into the account from which he had communicated with the undercover officer. Forensic analysis of the devices is ongoing.

According to court documents, Plummer admitted that he had traveled from Maine to meet the purported 13-year-old girl, that he was talking to approximately 10 underaged girls and that investigators would find child pornography on his devices. 

The charge of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of transportation of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Georgetown Police Chief Donald C. Cudmore made the announcement today. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Georgetown Police Chief Donald C. Cudmore made the announcement. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.  

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.