Augusta Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Livestreaming Child Sexual Abuse Material

BANGOR, Maine: An Augusta man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material.

U.S. District Court Judge Stacy D. Neumann sentenced Nathaniel Gagne, 37, to 8 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $23,000 in restitution.

According to court records, in April 2023, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Augusta Police Department began investigating the possible livestreaming of child sexual abuse material. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) had notified the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit (MSP CCU) that it had received a report through its CyberTipline that an Omegle user, later identified as Gagne, had uploaded a video file containing suspected child sexual abuse material. Omegle is an anonymous chat site where users are matched at random within topics and can communicate by text or video. The file reported by Omegle contained four images of a three- to four-year-old child being sexually abused.

During the execution of a search warrant at his Augusta home, Gagne admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material and sharing it on Omegle. Investigators seized two cell phones and an SD card during the investigation, recovering hundreds of images and videos.

HSI investigated the case with assistance from MSP CCU and the Augusta Police Department.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – referred to in legal terms as "child pornography" – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 36 million reports of the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials. To file a report with NCMEC, go to https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.

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