East Boothbay woman pleads not guilty to witness tampering charge
Rachel E. Anderson, 35, of East Boothbay was arraigned Sept. 26 on one count of Tampering with a Witness or Informant in connection to several child pornography charges she pleaded guilty to in April.
According to court documents, Anderson had been in contact with Michael A. McKinney, 33, of Fort Mill, South Carolina over the internet, when he began sending her sexually explicit material involving a child younger than 12 years of age. He was later found guilty of child sexual abuse and dissemination of sexually explicit material in South Carolina, and is currently serving a prison sentence of 11 years.
According to court documents, Anderson sent a photo as well of a local child. It was not explicit, but she admitted in court documents that she believed McKinney would find it titillating. Three months after she received the first photo from McKinney, she reported to her therapist that she was a witness to child sexual abuse. The therapist reported it, and Anderson was arrested, as was McKinney, in October 2015.
At some point between the arrests and the trial, Anderson allegedly contacted McKinney and asked him not to give police in South Carolina any information about the photo she sent to him. A Lincoln County grand jury handed up a Class C indictment on the tampering charge Sept. 19.
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