Former Auburn publisher and film organizer seeks help after arrest

AUBURN — A former city councilor, local magazine publisher and film festival organizer is receiving therapeutic treatment at an out-of-state facility following his March arrest on a charge of possession of child pornography.

Joshua Shea has remained free on $500 cash bail on the condition that he have no Internet access or contact with children under the age of 18.

His May 1 court day in Androscoggin County Superior Court was continued to July 31 after his attorney, David Van Dyke, filed a motion to continue the matter.

Van Dyke wrote that Shea was attending “an intensive residential treatment center” that is not in Maine “for issues relating to matters which may be relevant to this prosecution.”

He started the treatment on April 1, Van Dyke wrote. Shea’s stay at the treatment center was expected to last from 39 days to 90 days.

Detectives from the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit seized Shea’s computer for analysis at their lab at the time of his arrest. Initial inspection of the computer showed hundreds of images of child pornography, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety. He was charged with a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

He was publisher of Lewiston Auburn Magazine and organizer of the Lewiston Auburn Film Festival. He is no longer affiliated with the magazine; the film festival was replaced by a new film festival.