(RepublicanNews.org) – A former environmental advisor to President Jimmy Carter is facing charges of possessing videos and photographs of children being sexually abused.
Eliot Cutler, 76, of Maine, has admitted to owning the materials and will face a judge on May 4th, when he is expected to plead guilty and receive sentencing. Cutler’s lawyer, Walter McKee, said his client takes responsibility for having the materials and has never sexually abused a child.
McKee’s court filings call for his client to receive a four-year prison term but serve only nine months of that. The judge will decide whether to accept this proposal.
Cutler, himself an attorney, was nearly elected governor of Maine in 2010. The left-leaning Independent used his own considerable fortune to pay for two gubernatorial campaigns. He almost clinched the governor’s mansion in 2010, coming within two points of the eventual winner, Republican Paul LePage. Cutler’s 2014 run was not as close.
The charges Cutler is facing each carry a maximum five-year prison term. His lawyer’s sentencing memorandum, which asks for a lighter 9-month sentence, characterizes Cutler as having a pornography addiction. Cutler apparently acknowledged downloading hundreds of videos and photos at a time, more than he would have time to view.
McKee’s memo said Cutler accepted “full responsibility for his crimes” and feels ashamed of them. Cutler understands he has caused “great harm” to the children abused for the purposes of the material he downloaded, and harmed his family.
Cutler began his political career as an aide to the late Democratic U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. He then served President Jimmy Carter as a top adviser on energy and environmental issues.
After that, Cutler worked as an environmental lawyer and co-founded a D.C. law firm before going back to Maine for another shot at politics in the governor’s chair.
Cutler was arrested in 2022 at his home in Brooklin, Maine. He is free on bail pending his upcoming court appearance.
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