Trial begins for suspect facing child porn charges

BANGOR – Testimony began Monday in the criminal trial of Adam Dean, a Kennebec County man charged with three counts related to the possession, receipt and transmission of child pornography over the Internet.

The offenses allegedly took place over several months in 1999, culminating with a search of Dean’s West Gardiner home by federal customs agents and confiscation of his computer and 11 diskettes that, according to the court definition of the crime, contained graphic images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Ten of the diskettes were found in a cardboard box with the label “Adult Videos – Rabbit Fur,” according to the testimony of Stephen Marx, special agent with the U.S. Customs Service. The descriptive testimony was included over the defense attorney’s objection.

The jury trial is taking place at U.S. District Court in Bangor. U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal is presiding.

Dean first was indicted on one count last summer. Upon further analysis, the U.S. Attorney’s Office tacked two more counts onto the list, and a final superseding indictment was issued in December 2000.

Married three times and the father of four, Dean is charged with one count of possession of child pornography, one count of interstate transportation of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. If convicted, he faces the possibility of decades in prison and a possible half million dollars in fines.

Represented by Augusta attorney Walter McKee, Dean is claiming another person used his screen name and password to send and receive the material over the computer network.

America Online has had problems with people gaining access to screen names and passwords belonging to others. The most notable occurrence happened when AOL’s chief executive officer had his password and screen name stolen recently, according to court testimony.

Dean’s account with America Online was cancelled two years ago, coinciding with a second warning sent to him stating that a transfer of a graphic file attributed to his account was against an AOL service policy.

In 1985, Dean was convicted in Cumberland County Superior Court of sexual abuse of a minor.

His ex-wife Priscilla Dean testified that Dean approached her recently about getting a computer and indicated he would supply her with pornographic material. Dean, whose voice often shook during the testimony, said she called the police right after her ex-husband left her home.

On Monday, about 21 high school students attended the trial. They were from a law and ethics class at Hampden Academy.

A tall thin man with medium-length brown hair and a moustache, Dean listened intently to testimony on Monday. He quickly left the courtroom once the trial adjourned for the day.

Dean is released on bail. Whether he will testify is uncertain.