An Augusta man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. U.S. District Court Judge Stacy D. Neumann handed down the sentence to Nathaniel Gagne, 37, in Bangor on Wednesday. In addition to his prison term, Gagne will serve ten years of supervised release and must pay $23,000 in restitution.
Court records show that the investigation began in April 2023 when Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Augusta Police Department looked into reports of livestreamed child sexual abuse material. The Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit was alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which had received a CyberTipline report from Omegle about an uploaded video file containing suspected child sexual abuse content. Omegle is an anonymous online chat platform where users are randomly matched for text or video conversations.
The reported file included four images depicting the sexual abuse of a three- to four-year-old child. When investigators executed a search warrant at Gagne’s home, he admitted to viewing and sharing such material on Omegle. Authorities seized two cell phones and an SD card, recovering hundreds of related images and videos.
The case was investigated by HSI with help from the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the Augusta Police Department.
According to NCMEC, there were 36 million reports of possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials in 2023 nationwide. Reports can be filed through https://report.cybertip.org or by calling 1-800-843-5678. For those in Maine who have experienced sexual assault or abuse, support is available via a free statewide helpline at 1-800-871-7741.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address online child exploitation and abuse by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.
“Nathaniel Gagne, 37, [was sentenced] to 8 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $23,000 in restitution.”
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