Boothbay man to serve two years in prison

Tue, 09/30/2014 - 7:00pm

Joseph Pinkham, 28, of Boothbay will spend the next two years in prison after pleading guilty to three felony charges possession of sexually explicit materials, one misdemeanor charge of the same crime and violating the conditions of his release.

On Thursday, Sept. 25 at Lincoln County Superior Court, Pinkham pleaded guilty to the charges, which stemmed from a 2013 arrest in which he was originally charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography. As part of his plea Pinkham will serve two years of a five-year sentence.

Pinkham was originally arrested in November 2013 after a search warrant was executed at his home. Detectives from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office found more than 200 explicit images of children from ages 2 to 12, and 12 videos.

It was Pinkham's third conviction.

As part of his deal, Pinkham will have two years of probation, will have to complete an outpatient program, and will not allowed to have Internet access, nor a computer or smartphone or any device capable of accessing the Internet. Pinkham was also ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with any minors under 16 years old. He will be subject to random searches.

Pinkham was indicted in March 2014, for 10 counts including seven counts of possession of sexually explicit material of children under 12, and three counts of sexually explicit material of children under 16. The counts that Pinkham didn't plead guilty to were dismissed.

Pinkham was rearrested after a February 2014 incident of violating the conditions of his release. As part of his bail conditions, Pinkham was not allowed to have a computer or smartphone or to use the Internet.

Deputy Jared Mitkus, using an alias, sent Pinkham a friend request on Facebook, and Pinkham then allegedly accepted it.

Upon further investigation Pinkham admitted that no one else had access to his account and he was charged with violating the conditions of his release.

On Feb. 28, Mitkus, who at the time was working as a reserve patrol officer at the Boothbay Harbor Police Department, asked Pinkham when the latter came in to check in (also a bail condition) about his Internet usage. Pinkham allegedly said no one else had access to his accounts. Following that conversation, Mitkus retrieved a search warrant.

In April, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Hayden executed a search warrant and Facebook responded that Pinkham's profile had accessed the Internet in February from a Rockland address and accepted four friend requests. The address came back to a motel in Rockland, which confirmed that Pinkham had stayed there in February.