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Press Release

Bucksport Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine

BANGOR, Maine: A Bucksport man was sentenced today in federal court for possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., sentenced William Meier, 57, to 11 years and three months imprisonment to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $86,500 in restitution. Meier pleaded guilty on March 1, 2021.

According to court records, Meier possessed electronic devices containing child exploitation material. The electronics, including a cell phone and a computer with associated drives, were seized from his home on June 13, 2020. Some of the material Meier possessed depicted children under the age of 12.    

In imposing the sentence, Judge Woodcock told the defendant, “This is not only a crime against individual children. This is a crime against childhood itself and the innocence of childhood.”

Homeland Security Investigations, the Bucksport Police Department, and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit investigated the case.

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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child pornography, file a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. If you have an emergency that requires an immediate law enforcement response, please call 911 or contact your local police or sheriff’s department.

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Contact

Chris Ruge
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373
www.justice.gov/usao/me

Updated January 31, 2022

Topic
Project Safe Childhood