A Waterville man working for the U.S. Geological Survey has been charged with possession of child pornography, which federal investigators believe he accessed using his work computer.
Terrence Talbot, who worked for the agency’s New England Water Science Center in Augusta, admitted to federal investigators in November that he used his government computer to obtain child pornography from the internet, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.
The records were sealed until Thursday, when Talbot was arrested and released on an unsecured $2,500 bond. He had his initial appearance with a federal judge over Zoom.
Facing a Class C felony, Talbot could spend up to 10 years in federal prison and is subject to a fine as high as $250,000.
He has agreed to participate in a computer and internet monitoring and restriction program while out on bond.
The Office of the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior, which oversees USGS, was first alerted that someone was using work technology to search for pornographic materials in July, according to the complaint authored by Special Agent Nefertiti Berhane.
Investigators identified the work computer as assigned to Talbot, Berhane wrote. All computers are issued with a warning: “by logging into this agency computer system, you acknowledge and consent to the monitoring of this system. Evidence of your use, authorized or unauthorized, collected during monitoring may be used for civil, criminal, administrative or other adverse action.”
Talbot met with investigators on Nov. 17 at the Waterville Public Library and later at his workplace in Augusta. After telling them he was accessing child pornography on his work computer, Berhane wrote, Talbot also voluntarily gave investigators a USB drive of images saved from the computer. Berhane said the images were of underage girls.
Talbot told investigators he did not have or use any computer other than his government computer to search for child pornography.
Media contacts for the USGS New England Water Science Center did not respond to calls and emails from the Press Herald Friday asking whether Talbot is still working with them and for additional details about his position.
Attorney Brad Grant, representing Talbot, did not return a call left with his office’s front desk seeking his client’s reaction to the federal complaint.
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