AUBURN – A drag racer and former executive of a local company is scheduled to go on trial next month on child pornography charges.

Regis F. Lepage, 52, of Hotel Road appeared in Androscoggin County Superior Court nearly a year ago and pleaded not guilty to seven counts of possession of sexually explicit material and one count of dissemination of that material.

Cases involving possession of such materials often are settled with plea bargains, in which the defendant and prosecutor agree on charges and punishment to which the defendant would plead guilty, thereby avoiding a trial, Androscoggin County Assistant District Attorney Deborah Cashman said. In some cases, the two sides are able to agree on a maximum sentence, but the defendant is free to argue before the judge for a lesser sentence, she said.

Cashman said she and William Cote, Lepage’s attorney, had discussed a possible plea agreement since Lepage was formally charged in court last June. In a rare action, he allowed prosecutors to bring the charges after bypassing the process of having them present their evidence to a grand jury for a possible indictment.

Negotiations for a possible plea bargain have been ongoing, Cashman said.

Police seized from Lepage’s office and home computers, computer disks and related materials as well as video tapes.

Cote had filed a motion asking the court to make police save all of their investigative notes in the case. A judge granted that motion.

He also asked that the court suppress any statement Lepage made to police during an interview on Dec. 5, 2005. There hasn’t been a ruling on that motion.

Auburn police officers went to Lepage’s home then office with a search warrant, according to court papers. Lepage was informed of his Miranda rights and told police he chose to exercise those rights not to say anything, Cote wrote in his motion. Afterward, Lepage apparently made “certain statements” to police, Cote wrote.

A court clerk said a hearing on that motion likely would be held the week before the trial. If the case were to go to trial in May, it likely would be after May 14, the clerk said.

Each of the counts of possession is a class C crime, punishable by up to five years in prison and carries a fine of up to $5,000, Cashman said. The dissemination count is a class B crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and carries a fine of up to $20,000.

Lepage, whose family owns Lepage Bakeries, New England’s largest independent bakery, once served as vice president. He later resigned and became a business consultant. He has been racing dragsters since the early 1980s.

Local police were tipped off to Lepage’s alleged activities by a Wichita, Kan., police officer who was posing as a child in Internet chat rooms.

He remains free on $10,000 unsecured bail, is subject to random searches and is barred from having pornography.