AUGUSTA — A man police discovered had multiple images of children younger than 12 years old being sexually exploited was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday.
Jeffrey B. Matthews, 39, of Monmouth, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a minor under 12 years old in a plea agreement with state prosecutors that dismissed eight other charges.
Matthews was initially charged by Maine State Police in 2021 with 10 counts of possession of sexually explicit material of a minor younger than 12 years old.
Prosecutor Michael Madigan, an assistant district attorney, said Matthews had both still photographs and video images of children on electronic devices police seized from him. Each of the initial 10 counts against Matthews involved different images of children under the age of 12 being sexually exploited. He said investigators with the Maine State Police computer crimes unit found a total of 75 explicit images on multiple devices.
Under a plea agreement reached between prosecutors, Matthews and his attorney John Pelletier, Matthews was sentenced to three years in prison, with all but two years suspended, on one count. And two years in prison on the second count, to be served concurrently. He will be on probation for six years on the first charge and another three years on the second charge, for a total of nine years of probation.
That means, Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy said, he’ll serve two years in prison as long as he complies with the terms of his probation. But he could serve up to a total of five years if he violates the terms of his probation.
Matthews will be required to be on the state sex offender registry for the rest of his life.
Madigan said when confronted by police about the images on his devices Matthews admitted he had the images and said he kept them around to illicit shock or an emotional response from himself.
Police investigated after someone with whom Matthews was in a prior relationship came across images on his electronic devices that struck her as inappropriate. She reported what she saw to Brunswick Police, as that is where they resided at the time.
More than 20 digital storage devices were seized by police as part of the investigation.
All the charges against Matthews allegedly occurred on the same date.
The start of his sentence was delayed for a week for him to make financial and pet-care arrangements.
The charges against him are class C felonies, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Probation conditions include no contact with the victims and no contact with any child younger than 18, though some supervised contact can be allowed if approved by his probation officer. The conditions also include that he only possess one device able to connect to the internet that can be searched by authorities and that he not view any explicit material.
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