A 20-year-old Portland man accused of video-recording children urinating in public bathrooms and sharing child pornography online was arrested this week on a federal warrant.

Anthony Thea was ordered temporarily held without bail Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III after making his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland to face a charge of receipt or distribution of child pornography via an instrument of interstate commerce.

Thea, who had been living most recently at an apartment in South Portland, is scheduled to return to court for a detention hearing Tuesday morning. If convicted, he faces five to 20 years in federal prison.

Agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began investigating online child pornography in late August that ultimately led them to Thea this month, according to an affidavit filed this week by one of the agents, Christopher Fitzpatrick, seeking a warrant for Thea’s arrest.

The agents discovered that multiple videos depicting prepubescent boys had been shared from an Internet address originating from an apartment on Main Street in South Portland and executed a search warrant at that address on Oct. 9, the affidavit says.

An occupant of the apartment told the agents that Thea had been staying there and that a computer in a bedroom belonged to him. Agents located Thea in Falmouth later that day. Thea allegedly admitted then that he had shared child pornography online and had recorded children and high school students in public bathrooms, Fitzpatrick said in the affidavit.

Thea was arrested and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday, and the judge unsealed court documents Thursday.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

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