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Child-porn conviction stands

State’s highest court upholds ruling; former UMF student argued that police improperly seized computer

By Leslie Bridgers lbridgers@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND -- A former University of Maine at Farmington student will remain on the state's sex-offender registry for a child-pornography conviction, upheld on Thursday by Maine's highest court.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court denied an appeal by Keith Nadeau, 21, of Biddeford, who pleaded guilty last year to two counts of possessing sexually explicit material depicting minors under the age of 16.

Nadeau entered the guilty plea in October 2009 under the condition that he could appeal the decision. Franklin County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy sentenced him to nine months in jail for each charge, which he had already served when she handed down the ruling.

Nadeau was also put on probation for a year and ordered to register with the state as a sex offender -- punishments that would have been overturned by a successful appeal.

Nadeau's appeal was based on the argument that university police violated his constitutional rights when obtaining evidence from his dorm room that was used to convict him.

In December 2007, university police seized and searched Nadeau's computer and flash drive, after another student reported that he had child pornography, according to court documents.

Based on a recording of a conversation between Nadeau and police, the law court concluded that Nadeau consented to the seizure of his flash drive, but that police did not have Nadeau's consent to take the computer, thus violating his rights.

The court ruled, however, that police eventually would have obtained the computer lawfully and, on that basis, denied the appeal.

Nadeau's lawyer Michael Cunniff said, though he was disappointed by the high court decision, it would help set a protocol for the search and seizure of computers, which has limited legal precedents.

"I think there's value in the court's review of these circumstances," Cunniff said.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson, who represented the state, was on vacation this week and unavailable for comment on the ruling.

Nadeau was indicted in April 2008 on a class C felony charge, as well as the two misdemeanor charges, for possession of sexually explicit materials, but the state dropped the felony charge in the plea bargain.

In a separate incident, Nadeau pleaded no contest in 2008 to indecent exposure in Kennebec County Superior Court for exposing himself to a 13-year-old boy at a Winthrop dance camp, where he was working while out on bail for the child-pornography charges. For that conviction, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which he had already served.

Leslie Bridgers -- 861-9252

lbridgers@centralmaine.com