BANGOR – A Skowhegan man who had more than 1,000 images of children, some as young as 1 year old, engaging in sexual acts stored on his computer waived indictment and pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to possession of child pornography.

Dana Cully, 58, admitted that he had downloaded pictures and more than 150 videos of child pornography on two hard drives at his home. Many of the images and videos focused directly on the exposed genital areas of the children and-or depicted children engaging in sexually explicit acts with other children and with adults, according to court documents.

At least 35 of the minors depicted in the images have been identified in previous investigations by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Cully, whose e-mail password was “girlygirl,” according to court documents, told investigators that he was attracted to teenage models and went to Skowhegan High School girls basketball games three to four times a year.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned two years ago from their Cyber Crimes Center that Cully might be downloading and transmitting child pornography over the Internet at his Skowhegan home, according to the prosecution version of the crime to which he pleaded guilty. Agents interviewed Cully at his home in October 2006 and found suspected child pornography on a computer.

An investigator with the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Task Force completed in January 2007 a forensic examination that found 1,008 images and 171 movies of child pornography.

Cully, who has no criminal record, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of more than $250,000. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, his recommended sentence is expected to be between five and 61/2 years in prison because of the large number of images.

He is being held without bail pending sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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