PORTLAND — A Portland man pleaded guilty Thursday to 32 counts of possessing child pornography.

Michael Merrow, 52, had been charged with 35 counts of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under 12. He entered guilty pleas to 32 counts in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court and three counts were dismissed.

Assistant District Attorney Hannah Ames said during the proceeding that the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit learned that child pornography was being viewed or shared from an IP address they traced to Merrow. Merrow initially denied viewing the images but then admitted he had to authorities, she said.

Ames said the images were of actual children who were under 12 years old and the images had last been viewed between March and June of this year..

Jon Gale, Merrow’s court-appointed lawyer, noted during the hearing that there was no indication that Merrow took pornographic photos. Gale said Merrow is unemployed and has long been on disability.

The sentencing date has not been set. Merrow is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before then. He remains free on $1,000 bail.


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