MADISON — A 63-year-old Madison man with a history of sexual offenses was arrested Thursday for possessing child pornography, authorities said.

John Peters was arrested on nine counts of possession of sexually explicit material and one count of failure to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said in a statement Tuesday. All charges are class C felonies.
The Sheriff’s Office began investigating the case after receiving a complaint May 3 that Peters possessed child pornography, according to Lancaster. Detective Jeremy Leal found that Peters’ cell phone contained the explicit photos and videos, which was verified by a forensic examination by the computer crimes unit of the Maine State Police. Leal subsequently obtained an arrest warrant.
On Thursday, Deputy Jacob Dever arrested Peters on the warrant on Old Point Avenue in Madison, Lancaster said. Lancaster’s statement did not specify how the deputy located Peters.
Peters made his initial court appearance Monday in the Somerset County Unified Criminal Court in Skowhegan, where a judge reduced Peters’ cash bail from $20,000 to $5,000, Lancaster said. Peters is being held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, according to jail records.
If Peters posts bail, he is to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and is not allowed to have any form of electronic device that can be used for sending, receiving or viewing sexually explicit material, according to the sheriff.
Peters is a lifetime registrant on Maine’s Sex Offender Registry due to previous convictions in Maine and New Hampshire, according to Lancaster.
Maine’s online database of sexual offenders shows that Peters has two previous convictions of unlawful sexual contact in Maine and has been sentenced for aggravated felonious sexual assault and sexual assault in other states.
Peters is due back in court Aug. 28.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less