Brant Perkins of Boothbay Harbor, who was convicted last July of the sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of tampering with a witness, has accepted an Alford plea to the last charge in the list of indictments, possession of child pornography involving very young children, according to the District Attorney’s office. 

The charge of possession of sexually explicit images of a minor is a Class C felony. The images of young children engaged in sexual activity with adult men were allegedly discovered on his mobile phone during the investigation into the sexual abuse charge. The child pornography charge was severed from the original list of indictments since it was held to be prejudicial, according to court records, and Perkins was arrested in January 2015 on that count. He has been awaiting trial since then at Two Bridges Regional Jail. His case has been continued numerous times during that time. His most recent court date was scheduled for March 1, but he accepted the plea on Feb. 1.

An Alford plea differs from a guilty plea only in that the defendant does not waive his rights to appeal. His attorney, Justin Andrus, says that Perkins will appeal after he is sentenced. According to the D.A.’s office, no sentencing date has been set.

In exchange for this plea, another charge of tampering with a witness was dismissed by the state.

Perkins was 54 when he was accused of abusing the 15-year-old karate student.

In a letter sent to the Boothbay Register, Perkins maintained his innocence on all the charges and vowed to appeal. He stated that he accepted the plea because with time served, he would be out of jail at mid-summer.