FARMINGTON — A Wilton man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to possession of sexually explicit materials of children under age 12.
Zachary Davis Franklin County Detention Center photo
Zachary P. Davis, 20, was indicted on the felony charge in April. He entered the plea during an arraignment held via Zoom from the Franklin County jail. Justice Roland Cole, defense attorney Ashley Perry and Assistant District Attorney Claire Andrews also appeared via Zoom.
An indictment indicates there is enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial.
During an interview in July 2019, while a search warrant was being executed at Davis’ residence in Wilton, Davis allegedly confirmed he had been viewing sexually explicit images of girls, according to a Maine State Police affidavit filed in a 2020 case. A state police analyst located images that depicted sexual exploitation of minors ranging from about 3 to 12 years of age on Davis’ laptop and cellphone, according to the document.
Davis could not enter a plea to a second charge of possession of sexually explicit materials of a minor and violation of condition of release because he has not been indicted, Andrews told the court. Those charges are expected to go before a grand jury in July.
Davis, who was a student at the University of Maine at Farmington, was arrested in March after state police detective Reid Bond conducted an investigation into a Florida detective’s report of Davis allegedly paying a Florida girl under age 12 for a nude photo of herself in 2020. The PayPal account was registered to Davis’ student email, according to court documents.
A conference is set for June 14 for both cases.
Davis is being held at the jail in lieu of $5,000 bail in connection with the second case at the Franklin County jail.
In the case he pleaded not guilty to Tuesday, Reid had issued him a summons and he had a personal recognizance bail with conditions.
A conviction on each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
