PORTLAND

Two charged with setting trash and dumpster fires

Two young men have been indicted by the Cumberland County grand jury on felony arson charges in connection with a string of dumpster and trash fires in downtown Portland in March.

Aaron Hornbeck-Fielder, 18, of Windham faces four felony counts of arson and one misdemeanor charge of violating bail terms. Robert Johnson, 19, of Portland faces one count of arson and one bail violation charge, according to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office.

Johnson was arrested by Portland police moments after a fire was started in a pile of trash pushed to the rear of the Portland Museum of Art at 99 Spring St. on March 23.

Hornbeck-Fielder was arrested a week later by Portland police and charged with setting a fire in a dumpster at 121 Center St. on March 23.

At the time of Hornbeck-Fielder’s arrest on March 31, he was considered a suspect in other fires that were set on March 22 and 23 on Center Street, Forest Avenue, Commercial Street, Danforth Street and Congress Street. Police said at the time they believed all of the fires were connected.

If the men are convicted of Class A felony arson, the most serious such charge, they face up to 30 years in prison for each count. The bail violation charges against them are punishable by up to six months in prison.

Virginia man sentenced for emailing child porn

A Virginia man who emailed pornographic images of children to an undercover federal agent in Maine was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland to 12½ years in federal prison.

Stewart Thornton Reed Jr., 50, of Fredericksburg pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2013, before U.S. District Judge George Singal to a charge of transportation of child pornography.

Reed told the undercover agent from the Department of Homeland Security via email on Sept. 21, 2013, that the girl in the sexually explicit images was 2 years old, according to court records.

Reed has been in custody since his arrest in Virginia on Oct. 17. Authorities seized a cellphone from him that also contained multiple images of child pornography, court records state.

The judge also sentenced Reed to five years of supervised release following completion of his prison term.

BUCKSPORT

Teen arraigned on charge of manslaughter in crash

A 16-year-old girl accused of causing a crash that killed another teenager in Bucksport in October has been arraigned.

Police charged the girl last month with manslaughter and aggravated driving to endanger. She is being tried as a juvenile, and did not enter a plea when she appeared in Ellsworth District Court on Friday.

Bucksport police have said the teen was driving with a 15-year-old passenger when her car went off Bucksmills Road in Bucksport and hit a tree. The passenger, Taylor Darveau, was killed.

AUGUSTA

State reduces number of moose permits by 990

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is reducing the number of moose permits by 990 because of the impact of winter ticks.

The department’s advisory council on Friday accepted a recommendation to issue 3,095 permits, down from a projected 4,085. The department also changed the mix by reducing the number of permits for antler-less moose because of high female mortality blamed on ticks.

Commissioner Chandler Woodcock said fewer permits will help the moose population after a tough winter.

Correction: This story was updated at 10:05 a.m. on May 10, 2014 to correct the number of moose permits that were reduced.