Maine has just received a new powerful tool to combat child pornography and trafficking — a new mobile forensic laboratory for the state’s Computer Crimes Unit, thanks in large part to former Camden teacher and Mainely Girls Executive Director Mary Orear, who more than two years ago spearheaded a fundraising campaign to buy the vehicle.  See more of the story here.

With nearly $40,000 in donations, the Computer Crimes Unit caught a lucky break when the Maine Emergency Medical Services donated their commercial recreational vehicle to the Maine State Police group of specialized forensic investigators. With the campaign money, they were able to retrofit the interior space, so that multiple examiners can work in conjunction with detectives and investigators. 

“It gives us a platform to use in the field to do forensic analysis on any devices we recover or seize that we suspect may contain evidence,” said CCU Sgt. Kyle Willette. “This helps us to bring the investigation to a quicker resolution, whether to rule out a suspect, or a person’s complicity or to make an arrest.”

The reason for this purchase was that the CCU only had two converted, retrofitted cargo vans to cover the entire state. Both were old and experiencing frequent power blow-outs. They were uncomfortable to work in during the heat of the summer and freezing temperatures of the winter, and neither had the kind of room needed to allow for multiple examiners to work alongside one another.

The CCU annually prosecutes between 70 and 80 of the highest volume traffickers in Maine. Based on their own sleuthing and a slew of tips, the CCU visits two to four houses or businesses each week in every part of Maine.

“Because Maine is such a rural state, it often takes time to build cases,” said Willette. “As we interview suspects, we learn new information, such as people who may be associating or cooperating with the suspect. We develop new leads, which may be in a very different location. The new mobile lab gives us tools to find a quicker resolution to a case.”

Just completed this past summer, the mobile lab is stored at the CCU’s headquarters in Augusta. The CCU plans to put it on the road this week.

Gone are the kitchen tables, sofas, chairs and bunks. A special company built out the RV with surveillance equipment, counter tops and work stations to accommodate computers with software that analyzes devices, as well as a power supply adequate to meet the technology’s requirements. In between the work station are tool cabinets.

“A lot of times the devices we recover may require the analyst to open access panels and disassemble them,” said Willette.

The lab now has enough room to allow multiple investigators to use it simultaneously, including a master bedroom retrofitted to serve as a place to interview suspects or a quieter area to do research or reports.

Because members of the CCU may be on the road all day long, it also offers more comfort with a bathroom, a sink and refrigerator, along with air conditioning allowing work to continue throughout the hottest summer days, and heating that takes the unit through the coldest days of winter.

With this lab, Willette said the CCU now can utilize the technology to the fullest, allowing the investigative unit to operate in a faster, more efficient manner to identify Mainers who produce, sell or are in possession of child pornography.

For more information about Maine’s Computer Crimes Unit visit: Maine CCU

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com