Former Portland Teacher Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

A former Portland educator has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material, following an investigation that began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen on Tuesday sentenced Travis McCutcheon, 54, to 42 months in prison, to be followed by eight years of supervised release.

McCutcheon previously pleaded guilty to the possession of child sexual abuse material on May 15, 2024.

“Although the evidence discovered does not reflect that Mr. McCutcheon possessed materials involving any of his students, his conduct was egregious,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine Darcie McElwee.

“Child sexual abuse material documents the exploitation and abuse of children who suffer revictimization every single time the images are shared or viewed,” McElwee said. “That an educator could be engaged in such child victimization is unconscionable.”

According to court records, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit received a CyberTip from the NCMEC in December 2022 regarding two videos files containing child sexual abuse material that had been detected on a cloud-based Google Drive storage account.

Investigators were able to trace the the Google Drive account back to McCutcheon, and after executing a search warrant on the account they found two additional video files containing child sexual abuse material, as well as emails from McCutcheon in which he solicited child sexual abuse material.