A Biddeford school employee will be released from jail while he awaits trial on federal charges of possessing child pornography and attempting to send obscene material to a minor.
Jesse Kiesel, 48, was arrested Friday and held at the Cumberland County Jail over the weekend. U.S. District Judge John Levy agreed to his release Monday on $25,000 unsecured bond. The court did not set a date for his next hearing.
Court documents show Kiesel is an ed tech who works with special education students at Biddeford Middle School. In an affidavit, police allege he sent explicit images to an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl online, and a search at his Biddeford home uncovered child pornography on his computer.
Biddeford Superintendent Jeremy Ray said Kiesel has been on paid administrative leave since the district learned about the investigation in May. The district also notified the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, filed a report with the Maine Department of Education and initiated an internal investigation. Ray said on Friday that he has not received any information that suggests Kiesel had inappropriate contact with any students.
“The Biddeford School Department is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students. We are vigilant in properly vetting any individual who works directly or indirectly with our students,” Ray said in a news release on Saturday. “I am unable to comment on personnel matters but can verify the employee passed the Maine Department of Education’s fingerprinting and background check. Immediately upon learning of the allegation, we took the appropriate actions and are cooperating with government agencies, including law enforcement, in their investigation.”
Kiesel will be subject to supervision while the charges against him are pending. Under the conditions of his release, he is not allowed to be on any school property, and he must participate in monitoring of his internet activity.
If convicted, Kiesel will face as much as 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each charge. A background check shows he does not have a criminal record in Maine.
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