Prosecutors denied claims made by a former Brunswick town councilor accused of possessing child pornography that the case was “proceeding toward dismissal” before a new district attorney won a primary election.

Christopher Watkinson reached a plea deal last week in which he could avoid jail. He then released a statement asserting his innocence, claiming police found no evidence of wrongdoing and that prosecutors engaged in a “frivolous pursuit” against him.

Watkinson in November 2022 was charged with possession of sexually explicit material of a minor under 12, a felony, and possession of sexually explicit material, a misdemeanor, after police said he accessed sexual images of a girl on his computer in June 2021.

“I discovered some concerning images online that I thought might warrant further action by law enforcement,” Watkinson said in his statement. “Feeling compelled to take action but not knowing the best way to proceed, I took a screenshot to forward to the appropriate agency, and attached it to a draft email. A short time later, Yahoo bots deleted my email account, and I could no longer access the email in question for follow-up.”

He claimed his didn’t download the images, though his attorney, William Bly, said in court last year Watkinson did download the images and emailed them to himself with the intention of turning them over to police. A month later, Yahoo reported the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Maine State Police searched his home.

“I explained what happened, complied with questioning and provided all of my devices, logins, passwords with the assurance that (Maine State Police Det. Jason Bosco) would not find any evidence of criminal conduct,” Watkinson said. “I said that they were making a terrible mistake and urged them to verify my explanation as quickly as possible. They did not find any evidence of any wrongdoing, and Bosco said the investigation was ‘a waste of time.’ ”

State police spokesperson Shannon Moss said the agency does not comment on cases once charges are filed and prosecution ensues.

Watkinson said his devices were “cleared.”

“Conversations with the Cumberland County DA (Jonathan Sahrbeck) were proceeding toward dismissal of the case,” he said. “That is until Jackie Sartoris won a political primary in June 2022 and began conferring with DA staff, long before actually winning a general election for her position. Without any further communication from the DA, and to our complete shock, the case was surreptitiously rushed into formal charges against me just days after Sartoris’s election.”

In an interview Tuesday, Sahrbeck said he never had conservations with Watkinson or his attorneys about the case and denied Watkinson’s claim it was headed for dismissal. After Sartoris’ victory, Sahrbeck said he requested the case be transferred to Androscoggin County for possible prosecution to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Sartoris, of Brunswick, served with Watkinson on the town’s Comprehensive Plan Update Steering Committee and her husband, Steve Walker, served with Watkinson on the Town Council.

“Jackie had nothing to do with this,” Sahrbeck said.

Sartoris agreed.

“Despite the defendant’s claims, I have had no role at any time in this case,” she said. “I had no communication about the case with former DA Sahrbeck prior to his decision, although it is clear now that he made a good choice.

“I wish Mr. Watkinson well in meeting the conditions of the agreement he reached with Androscoggin County to resolve his criminal case.”

Watkinson and his attorney did not return messages Tuesday.

Watkinson’s plea deal resulted in the felony charge being dropped. On the misdemeanor charge, he entered an Alford plea of guilty, while maintaining his innocence, and agreed to undergo counseling and have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 10, other than his own, for the next 12 months, at which point the misdemeanor charge will be dropped if he avoids new criminal charges. He will then face a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child and plans to enter a no-contest plea, which would result in a conviction but no jail or fine. He said he agreed to the deal because he ran out of money to fund his defense.

Read Watkinson’s full statement.

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