Disgraced former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler was arrested at a South Portland hotel on Monday and charged with violating his conditions of release, the third such accusation against him since September.

Cutler, 79, of Brooklin, was arrested by Maine State Police at about 4:20 p.m., spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a news release.

Cutler was convicted in 2023 of possessing thousands of sexually explicit images of children and sentenced to nine months in jail followed by six years of probation.

Cutler’s attorney, Walter McKee, declined to comment Monday evening, saying he just learned of the arrest and had yet to see documents related to the incident.

Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger declined to comment on the situation Monday night, noting Cutler’s probation officer is expected file a motion with details on the incident in the near future.

Cutler was originally accused of violating the terms of his probation in Brooklin in September, when he allegedly sought information about an escort online and had two unauthorized cellphones.

Last month, Cutler turned himself in at the Hancock County Jail after being accused of violating the conditions of his release for a second time.

Detectives with the Maine State Police Special Victims Unit encountered Cutler in the South Portland hotel while they were conducting a separate investigation, Moss said.

“During that interaction, it was determined that Cutler was in violation of the conditions of his probation,” Moss stated.

The detectives consulted with Cutler’s probation officer, Moss said, and then arrested him and took him to Cumberland County Jail, where he was being held on probation hold.

No bail has been set for Cutler, a Cumberland County Jail employee said in a phone call Monday night.

It was not clear Monday what conditions Cutler is accused of violating. Previous conditions of Cutler’s release banned him from accessing sexually explicit materials and required him to only use devices through which his internet access could be monitored by a third-party.

He denied the September allegations during a court appearance in December and was released on a $1,000 cash bail.

The following month, he was once again accused of violating the conditions of his release in two separate instances in December and early January, according to court documents.

After voluntarily turning himself in, a judge tightened the restrictions of his release, ordering Cutler to not be allowed to access the internet or possess any electronic devices capable of doing so. He subsequently made his $10,000 bail.

Cutler was sentenced to nine months after pleading guilty in 2023. Investigators said at the time that he had more than 80,000 images of children younger than 12 being sexually abused.

In January 2024, he was released two months early for good behavior.

Cutler previously worked in Washington, D.C., as a public servant, attorney and co-founder of an environmental law firm. He ran twice for Maine governor, in 2010 and 2014, as an independent candidate. Following his guilty plea, he was disbarred in both New York and Maine.