Cutler released again after continued hearing
The Brooklin resident remains free on bail and can use the internet while he awaits next hearing, judge rules
June 2, 2026
By Tricia Thomas
ELLSWORTH—Former Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler will remain free on bail while he awaits a continued hearing on whether he’ll face more jail time for violating his probation for a 2023 child pornography conviction.
A Hancock County Superior Court judge ruled on June 1 that Cutler, of Brooklin, will be able to use the internet during weekdays as long as his wife or brother are with him. A date for the continued hearing has not yet been set.
Cutler was released on bail on May 22 after being jailed for 102 days following a February 9 arrest in South Portland, where he allegedly was found by Maine state police with pornographic DVDs—items he is barred from possessing under the terms of his probation. That arrest was Cutler’s third since last fall for alleged probation violations.
On the stand on May 22, Cutler told Justice Patrick Larson that he and his wife, Melanie Stewart Cutler, a psychiatrist, lead a “digitized life” that is highly dependent on the internet for banking, finances, email, entertainment and management of his coastal home and its systems. Cutler also testified that an internet ban imposed in January, after he was charged with a second internet-related probation violation, left him “panicked” and “dysregulated” before his February arrest.
During that hearing, Cutler also denied the state’s charges that he had violated his probation for a fifth time by possessing encrypted files on his laptop and failing to provide correct passwords to forensic investigators tasked with examining his electronic devices for evidence of pornography.
District attorney Bob Granger and Cutler’s probation officer, Sam Payson, have asked the court in five separate motions to revoke Cutler’s probation for the alleged violations, and send the former attorney and two-time gubernatorial candidate to jail for the 39 months left on his six-year probation. Cutler pled guilty to charges contained in three of the state’s motions. Granger dismissed the fourth motion, but has not withdrawn the fifth.
“This is Mr. Cutler’s fifth violation of his probation conditions in a relatively short timeframe, all of which are due to his inability to refrain from pornography and participate in court ordered PSB [problematic sexual behavior] treatment.”
On June 1, after conferring with both attorneys, Larson began the hearing by announcing that Granger had requested a continuance because Cutler had supplied additional passwords since returning home. Continuing the hearing would give investigators time to access the laptop and review its contents, Larson said.
“It has been brought to my attention that a motion to continue has been filed by the state since Mr. Cutler has been released on bail and was able to locate his passwords, particularly the password to the Apple computer, and the state now wants to…search that computer before they go on,” Larson said.
“The defendant is not opposed to a continuance, however, pending the next hearing, the defendant wants to have access to the internet,” Larson added.
Granger, in his ensuing brief argument for the continuance, said it would allow investigators time “to see if those new passwords that have been provided actually work.”
Granger pushed back on Cutler’s request to use the internet, stating that limiting access to it is a customary part of the problematic sexual behavior (PSB) treatment that Cutler was ordered to undergo by a judge in January. Payson, when questioned by Larson, said that internet usage often is gradually meted out as offenders progress through the program. Full reinstatement of internet privileges can take 6 to 12 months, Payson testified.
“If they go into the program, and they’re actively in the program, in other words they’re there when they’re supposed to be there and they’re answering questions and being honest, it would be six months to a year,” Payson said.
Once internet usage is restored, offenders must agree to specific parameters, including not accessing pornography, Payson told Larson. Offenders who violate this agreement risk losing internet privileges, Payson added.
Granger also took objection to the prospect of putting Cutler’s wife, who was not present at the hearing, in the role of supervisor if Cutler was granted internet usage. McKee also proposed that Cutler’s brother, D. Joshua Cutler, a Portland cardiologist, serve as an “alternate” internet supervisor.
“The state would have some concerns about his wife serving [as Cutler’s internet supervisor], only because he’s been living with his wife during the time that his troubles have occurred.”
“The state would have some concerns about his wife serving in that capacity, only because he’s been living with his wife during the time that his troubles have occurred,” Granger said.
McKee told Larson that his client was willing to comply with all of the PSB program’s other requirements, but needed access to the internet. McKee also said that Cutler had not used the internet to access pornography for the first year and a half of his probation. When he did, in September 2025 and in January 2026, those electronic interactions were “flagged” by the third party assigned to monitoring his devices, McKee added.
“For 18 months of his supervision, there were zero issues whatsoever,” McKee said.
“I appreciate that there have been problems with the internet. I’ve heard that time and again. I just want to push back on that a little bit,” McKee said. “That’s kind of discounting all of the 800-and-some other days that he’s been doing just what he’s supposed to be doing.”
McKee referenced his May 12 memorandum to the court, in which he listed federal appellate case law that struck down similar internet bans.
“As the internet has pervaded every aspect of modern life, the federal courts have increasingly shied away from imposing internet bans,” the memorandum states.
“These kinds of bans are really not appropriate,” McKee told Larson on June 1. “The right thing to do is robustly monitor what he’s doing.”
Larson ended the brief, 20-minute hearing by granting Cutler use of the internet while he awaits a decision on whether his probation should be revoked.
“I’m going to order that [1] he have internet access pending this next hearing. It’s going to be monitored by his wife, Melanie Cutler, or his brother, Josh Cutler. [2] that it’s going to be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. [3] that he will also contact his probation officer when that internet access will be taking place, so that the probation officer will be aware that there is internet access taking place,” Larson said.
Larson said that requirements of Cutler’s participation in the mandated PSB program, including restrictions on internet usage, could supersede his ruling.
“I don’t know how this will impact his program for treatment that has been ordered,” Larson said.
Larson said that a date for continuing the hearing will be set once Granger informs him that state investigators have completed their examination of Cutler’s laptop. Also, because he’ll be hearing cases in Washington County during the month of June and the planned implementation of a new computerized case management system is scheduled for July, the hearing may need to wait until sometime in August, Larson said.