AUBURN – A Lewiston man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for sexually abusing a young girl and for distributing pornographic material showing adults having sex with toddlers.

James Fisk, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of a minor, three counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor and one count of disseminating sexually explicit materials.

His plea and sentencing came less than three weeks after his wife, Stacie, pleaded guilty to similar charges related to the same case. She is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

The couple were arrested in July as police investigated reports of child pornography involving a network of people.

The investigation began when a local 14-year-old girl reported that she had been sexually abused by the Fisks.

In addition to telling investigators that she had performed sexual acts with them both, the girl gave police a CD containing a graphic video of an adult performing sexual acts on a child who appeared to be 2 years old.

Based on this information, investigators said, they seized computers, photographs and videos from the Fisks’ apartment on Horton Street showing children engaged in sexual acts.

James Fisk initially faced a total of 14 charges. The state agreed to drop half of them in exchange for guilty pleas on the others.

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Potter Cashman explained that she agreed to dismiss the other charges in part because she was afraid she would have difficulty proving them at a trial.

One charge of sexual exploitation of a minor would have required Stacie Fisk to testify that her husband took photographs of her engaging in sexual acts with the young girl, and Stacie Fisk had already said she wouldn’t do that, Cashman said.

An additional charge of disseminating sexually explicit material presented a problem because police had trouble gaining access to one of the seized computers, Cashman added.

Fisk apologized for his actions after pleading guilty Tuesday.

“I feel very sorry for what happened and do take full responsibility for it,” he said. “And I’ll live with it for the rest of my life.”

Fisk was ordered to serve six years of probation after his three years in prison. As conditions of his probation, he cannot have contact with anyone under 18. He cannot have a computer, have access to the Internet or possess any pornographic material. He also must register as a sex offender for 10 years and undergo counseling.


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