Father, son indicted on pornography charges

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — A father and son, who were arrested in August for allegedly possessing pornographic images of minor children on their computers, were indicted by the Aroostook County grand jury Nov. 9.
    David B. Copley, 62, and a Will Copley, 30, both of Houlton, were arrested Aug. 14 at their 46 School St. residence by the Houlton Police Department for allegedly possessing pornographic images of minor children on their computers.
    The Copley residence is diagonally across from the Houlton Christian Academy.
    The arrests were the result of a lengthy investigation conducted jointly with the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force and Houlton police.
    Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin said members of the Houlton Police Department and the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant at Copley’s residence on Aug. 2. Law enforcement officials seized a laptop, a desktop computer and an external hard drive. Evidence of pornographic images involving minor children were observed on the devices. The digital images were downloaded by the Copley’s using P2P (peer to peer) software. P2P software allows computers linked together to form a decentralized network that allows for the sharing of files between users.  
    Asselin said the identities of the children in the photos were not determined, but police do not believe them to be local children. He also said there is no law in the state to prevent a sex offender from living next to a school or daycare establishment. According to the Maine Sex Offender Registry website, the only way a restriction can be placed on where an individual can reside is if those special conditions are stated during sentencing.
    Both men were charged with possession of sexually explicit material of a minor under the age of 12. If convicted, they each could face a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison.