Deer Isle Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography

 BANGOR, Maine: A Deer Isle man pleaded guilty today in federal court to possessing child pornography, acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.

According to court records, Nicholas Pettis, 38, possessed electronic devices containing child exploitation material. Investigators seized the devices, including cell phones and a computer, from Pettis’s home on June 25, 2020. Some of the material he possessed on the devices depicted children under the age of 12.  

Pettis faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. 

Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit investigated this case. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.