If you are concerned about a child being neglected or abused, call Maine’s 24-hour hotline at 800-452-1999 or 711 to speak with a child protective specialist. Calls may be made anonymously. For more information, visit maine.gov/dhhs/ocfs/cw/reporting_abuse.
A former employee of the Biddeford school district has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for possessing materials detailing child sexual abuse.
Jesse Kiesel, who formerly worked at Biddeford Middle School as an education tech, engaged in an internet chat with an undercover law enforcement officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl in April 2021, according to Noah Falk, assistant United States attorney for the district of Maine.
Court documents said the 49-year-old Kiesel steered the conversation toward sexual contact and transmitted obscene images to the undercover officer. A search warrant was executed at Kiesel’s residence, and police found numerous images of child pornography on his computer, according to official documents.
Kiesel was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy on Thursday to 44 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Kiesel pleaded guilty on July 21, 2022.
He has also been ordered to pay $7,500 in monetary assessments applicable to defendants in child sexual exploitation cases and $4,000 in restitution.
