The trial of a former director of Kennebec County Emergency Management Agency, facing stalking and invasion charges for allegedly downloading nude images of a co-worker, will not be held in Kennebec or Somerset counties, a judge ruled.

Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy granted a motion Wednesday for a change of venue in the case of Arthur True, who is charged with stalking, criminal invasion of computer privacy, and aggravated criminal invasion of computer privacy.

True is accused of using a co-worker’s computer to download nude images of her taken during the filming of a reality television show

True’s attorney, Darrick Banda, sought the change of venue citing concern of a possible appearance of a conflict of interest if the case is tried in the district attorney’s prosecutorial district, which includes Somerset and Kennebec counties. True worked in Kennebec County.

Banda said the case was moved also in part to avoid any conflicts of interest with a pending federal civil lawsuit against True and other county officials filed by the alleged victim in the criminal case against True, in which multiple county employees are named.

“I’m not saying there is an actual conflict, but it’s a concern there could be an appearance of a conflict of interest,” Banda said.

Maeghan Maloney, district attorney in Kennebec and Somerset counties, said she did not see a need for a venue change because county officials took steps to avoid any conflict of interest in prosecuting True. She said Lisa Bogue, deputy attorney general for the Maine Office of the Attorney General, was supervising the case because Maloney knew True and Bogue did not.

Maloney added that True was a county employee, and prosecutors are state agency employees.

Shannon Flaherty, an assistant district attorney who has been the lead prosecutor, told Murphy in court the state did not have a position and thus did not object to the venue change.

“The Attorney General’s Office is supervising the case,” Maloney said. “This is to prevent conflict of interest. Therefore I don’t see the need for a change, but I always respect the decision of the court.”

Banda suggested the case be moved to the state’s sixth prosecutorial district, which covers Sagadahoc, Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties, and where Natasha Irving is district attorney.

Murphy, while approving the motion to change the venue, did not designate which district it would move to. She said she’d be in touch to figure out where the case would go.

True, of Albion, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

True was director of Kennebec County EMA for 10 months, until he resigned in April 2023.

True, 52, is accused of stalking and using the work computer of his then co-worker, Danielle Beauchemin, of Falmouth, an emergency management specialist and education coordinator for Kennebec County, to download dozens of nude images of her.

The images, a civil rights lawsuit filed in March by Beauchemin against True and the county alleges, were obtained by True by logging into her work computer at her locked office, entering her private Google Drive account, and downloading more than 100 photographs of her.

Many were uncensored nude images of Beauchemin taken while she was being filmed for the reality television show “Naked and Afraid.” The Google Photos account was linked to her old cellphone, which contained thousands of images. Court documents state at no point did Beauchemin ever upload, download or in any way access nude or explicit photographs on her work computer.

“Naked and Afraid” is a reality television show on the Discovery Channel in which contestants are dropped off in the wilderness and must survive, without clothes, food, water or much else for supplies. Published reports indicate Beauchemin appeared on the show in three episodes between 2014 and 2021.