A Hancock County judge on Wednesday denied Eliot Cutler’s request to be released on bail, citing his repeated alleged violations of his release conditions.

Cutler, the disgraced two-time Maine gubernatorial candidate and convicted sex offender, will remain in custody after he was accused of violating his release conditions several times since September.

Most recently, Maine State Police arrested Cutler at a South Portland hotel in February when they saw him holding pornographic DVDs, which he is prohibited from having as a part of his probation conditions.

He’s been in custody without bail since then. He attended a bail hearing remotely from jail on Wednesday, when Hancock County Superior Court Justice Patrick Larson denied his request for home detention despite his health concerns. Cutler put his face in his hands and was visibly upset when Larson issued his ruling.

“I’m pleased with the Court’s ruling,” Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger said in an email after Wednesday’s hearing. “It has been the State’s position for quite some time that Mr. Cutler should be held without bail.”

Granger said a hearing on whether to revoke Cutler’s probation is expected sometime in mid-May.

Cutler’s attorney, Walter McKee, declined to comment on the ruling Wednesday afternoon.

Cutler, 79, was convicted in 2023 for possessing thousands of sexually explicit images of children. He was sentenced to nine months in jail and six years of probation, but he was released from jail two months early because of “good behavior.”

A probation officer has motioned for Cutler’s probation to be revoked because he’s been accused on multiple occasions of violating his release conditions. The officer has described Cutler as repeatedly trying to circumvent his probation, which Cutler continues to deny.

In September, Cutler was accused of seeking an escort online and having unauthorized devices that can access the internet, which he is not allowed to do. He denied those allegations months later. A Hancock County Judge ordered him to pay $1,000 in bail to remain out of jail.

He allegedly violated those bail conditions in December and January, after which he turned himself in to the Hancock County Jail and was released after posting $10,000 in bail.

Cutler contends he is suffering from an addiction to pornography. He also argued he shouldn’t be in jail because of medical concerns.

After his February arrest in South Portland, Granger asked a judge to revoke Cutler’s probation because he was missing court-ordered treatment for his “problematic sexual behavior.” But Cutler can’t attend that treatment because he’s in jail.

McKee, Cutler’s lawyer, asked Larson in court Wednesday to consider allowing Cutler to serve his detention at home with some exceptions, like attending medical appointments. He said Cutler has served more than two months in jail without bail already and that keeping him in jail is “unreasonable” given his medical needs.

But Granger argued that Cutler has repeatedly broken the conditions of his release. He also noted that Cutler was staying in the South Portland area for medical appointments when he allegedly purchased pornographic DVDs and a DVD player.

Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.