Houlton man arrested for child porn

HOULTON, Maine — A Houlton man, who served as a youth hockey coach, has been charged with possessing child pornography.
On Monday, the Houlton Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Peter F. Alden, 44, of Houlton for possessing sexually explicit material of a minor under the age of 12. Alden was  arrested by the Skowhegan Police Department Monday evening.
    “The investigation was initiated on July 2, as a result of a referral from the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital (Togus) in Augusta,” said Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin “The hospital staff person indicated that Mr. Alden may have had a sexual encounter with an underage female.”
Alden has not been charged with any assualt as of presstime.
As a result of information obtained by Detective Kris Calaman during the investigation, a search warrant was prepared and police subsequently seized Alden’s cellular phone, an iPod and a laptop computer. The devices were later transferred to Detective William Scull of the Presque Isle Police Department for forensic analysis.
Police indicate that there were numerous sexually provocative images of female children under the age of 12 found on the iPod. Many of the images would be viewed as either child erotica or child pornography, the chief said.
Police would not disclose the age of the victim, nor any details relating to the alleged sexual encounter. Police also said none of the images found on Alden’s devices appeared to be of local children.
Shortly after releasing himself from the veteran’s hospital, Alden entered a men’s shelter in Skowhegan, Asselin said. Originally from Cape Cod, Mass., Alden moved to Houlton approximately 11 months ago and resided on River Street.
While living in Houlton, Alden worked for Steelstone Industries for a short period of time. He was also a coach for the Southern Aroostook Minor Hockey Association.
Detective Calaman and Officer Ezekiel Collins are the primary investigating officers on the case.