WILTON – A local resident has been charged with possessing sexually explicit materials depicting a juvenile under the age of 12.
Zachary P. Davis, 20 of Wilton, was arrested on March 9 on one charge of possession of sexually explicit materials, a Class C felony, as well as a misdemeanor charge of violating the conditions of his release. Per the allegations, Davis, a University of Maine at Farmington student, was out on bail at the time relating to a similar case from 2019. Also on March 9, the state filed to revoke Davis’ bail in relation to the 2019 case.
Per an affidavit submitted by Maine State Police Detective Reid Bond, UMF Police Chief Brock Caton was contacted by a detective in Florida in November 2020. The Florida detective told Brock, who later referred him to the MSP Computer Crimes Unit, that a girl under the age of 12 had received money through a PayPal account for a nude photograph of herself. Through a secondary email address, that PayPal account was linked to Davis’ student email account, according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, Bond indicated that he was familiar with Davis as he had previously issued him a summons on Dec. 11, 2019 for possession of sexually explicit materials under the age of 12. Davis’ bond conditions included that he not have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16 and that he not possess sexually explicit materials.
Law enforcement in Florida reported that a girl under the age of 12 had sent material via Instagram at the request of an individual for $40. The individual later demanded that the girl return the $40 or threatened to leak the photographs. She sent the money and then told her mother, who in turn contacted police. The individual was later reportedly identified by police as Davis through an examination of email accounts associated with the PayPal payment.
State and local police executed a search warrant at Davis’ residence in Wilton in December, according to the affidavit, at which point Davis reportedly told Bond that he had communicated with the girl and sent her $40. He told police that he had broken his iPhone and thrown it in the trash. In examining electronics taken from Davis’ residence, an analyst at the MSP Computer Crimes Unit found evidence of sexually explicit materials of a young girl that did not appear to be the girl from Florida.
Davis being held on $5,000 secured bail on the new charge, as well as being held without bail in relation to the the 2019 case. In Maine, a Class C felony carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
