Ex-Maine governor hopeful to plead guilty in child porn case

By DAVID SHARP
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A wealthy attorney who came close to being elected governor of Maine in 2010 is expected to plead guilty to possessing videos and images of child sexual abuse and to serve nine months in prison, according to a court document. Seventy-six-year-old Eliot Cutler is due in an Ellsworth courtroom on Thursday, where he’s expected to plead guilty to four counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a child under 12, according to terms of the agreement hammered out with prosecutors. The judge would still need to approve of the deal. Cutler bankrolled his 2010 and 2014 campaigns for governor, when he ran as an independent. He lost in 2010 by less than 2 percentage points to Republican Paul LePage.