AUGUSTA — A former Monmouth teacher who was arrested in June and charged with possessing sexual explicit material of minors is no longer facing that charge.
Christopher Brown, 55, of Monmouth, appeared Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court for a brief hearing.
After finding that no complaint had been filed, Justice Michaela Murphy vacated the bail bond and Brown left court.
“We did not present a complaint to the court this morning,” said District Attorney Evert Fowle said Tuesday. “The assistant district attorney who had screened the case was waiting on more information.
“We have reports from two primary officers and are waiting on one from a third officer,” Fowle said. “If we decide there’s sufficient evidence, we’ll present it to the next grand jury, probably.”
He added, “The fact that a complaint was not presented (Tuesday) has no bearing on whether one will be presented.”
Brown’s attorney, Michael Whipple, had a different interpretation.
“The fact that no complaint was filed reflects our position on the noncriminal nature of the allegations,” Whipple said. “The conduct does not rise to criminal conduct.”
Brown had been free on unsecured bail, with conditions banning him from unsupervised contact with children.
Brown was a fifth-grade teacher at Monmouth Middle School for more than a dozen years and was placed on administrative leave after his arrest, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Whipple said Brown is retired.
School officials originally called Maine State Police to report finding photographs of children on a school computer. The photos appeared to be of girls on the playground, police said.
Later, Brown led officers to a wooded site near his home where they found two school laptops hidden in waterproof bags. Police said those laptops had nude photos of children in sexually explicit positions.
Maine State Police Sgt. Glen Lang said earlier that Brown admitted taking the pictures and morphing (the heads) on other bodies.
Investigators said it did not appear as if any of the children from the middle school were in the nude photographs.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com
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