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Patrick Plummer of Parsonsfield confessed to attempted enticement of a minor, intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a person under 18, and transportation of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Plummer began speaking with an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl in 2020 through various social media apps, federal authorities said. He created a plan to drive to Georgetown, Mass., to meet with her and have sex. Police arrested him when he showed up at agreed upon meet-up location, authorities said.
Police said Plummer had a spring-loaded knife, four cell phones, and a laptop on him when they arrested him. The devices had 7,000 pornographic images and videos that featured children, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He told officers he shared the images through the Kik messaging app.
He also told investigators that he was speaking to 10 other underage girls online.
“What Patrick Plummer admitted to is abhorrent. This child predator traveled here from Maine to sexually assault what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, while in possession of over a hundred images and videos depicting other children, some toddlers, being sexually abused,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
The US Attorney's Office said he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and up to a life sentence for attempted enticement of a minor. The child porn charge carries a minimum of five years behind bars and as many as 20. Traveling with intent illicit sexual conduct with a minor can fetch a 30-year prison term, authorities said.
A federal judge will sentence Plummer in December.
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