BELFAST — A Winterport man was indicted on two counts of possession of sexually explicit materials in Waldo County Unified Court Jan. 23. 

Alex N. Small has b been charged with intentionally or knowingly transporting, exhibiting, purchasing, possessing or accessing with the intent to view a book, magazine, newspaper, print, negative, slide, motion picture, computer data file, videotape or other mechanically, electronically or chemically reproduce visual image or material that he knew or should have known depicts another person engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and the other person had not, in fact, attained the age of 12 years, according to the official indictment.

In an affidavit in support of an arrest filed with Waldo County Unified Court Dec. 2, Waldo County Sheriff’s Detective Dale Brown wrote that Small initially came to police attention Jan. 28, 2019, when a woman called to report that she had discovered what she believed to be child pornography on a laptop computer owned by her boyfriend. 

The woman reportedly advised that her boyfriend, Alex Small, had left for work, and while looking around his computer she located “different videos,”  the affidavit said.

Deputy Daniel Perez met with the woman at a store, where she reportedly said that “she immediately recognized what she had observed and shut the laptop.” Perez took possession of the laptop at that meeting. 

On the day she discovered the image, the woman said she had just seen her children off to school. She stated Small had given her permission to use the laptop, though she hadn’t up until that day. While scanning files, the woman said she came across three videos in particular that were, “very concerning.”

According to the affidavit, Small said that he had been on the dark web and had downloaded a Tor browser before ultimately going on the Silk Road site and clicking different links. 

During the course of the conversation, Small allegedly acknowledged that one of the videos he watched likely contained a child under age 10. Small denied watching the other two videos and eventually requested a lawyer before answering any other questions. 

A report from the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force was completed on Small’s computer on July 26, which was forwarded to Detective Brown. 

Three videos were found during the computer’s analysis, according to the affidavit. As part of Small’s bail conditions, he is forbidden from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 and is barred from going any place where a person under the age of 18 might be found. 

Small, who is being represented by Hunter J. Tzovarras, is next due in court Feb. 25, at 1 p.m.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com