HOULTON, Maine — A repeat sex offender from Houlton will spend the next 10 years in prison after waiving his right to have his case considered by the Grand Jury.
Gary E. Schillinger, 60, appeared in the Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton last Wednesday, for a status conference with his attorney, Jeffrey Pickering of Houlton. Schillinger pleaded guilty to seven counts of dissemination of sexually explicit materials and three counts of possession of sexually explicit materials.
Schillinger received a 10-year prison sentence, followed by 12 years of supervised probation.
A month-long investigation on Schillinger began when he made statements to police back on Feb. 4. Police also received a request to do a welfare check on Schillinger after he reportedly threatened to harm himself.
According to Assistant District Attorney Kurt Kafferlin, officers responded to his home to check on his wellbeing and during their interaction with Schillinger, he became very upset and told officers that he had not wished to be born a child molester.
“Detective Stewart Kennedy of the Houlton Police Department further checked on Schillinger’s activities by looking for a Facebook profile associated with Schillinger,” Kafferlin said. “He discovered a profile in Schillinger’s name that also included pictures of Schillinger. The page also displayed a number of fetish-type photographs of children being spanked. A search warrant was later executed on Schillinger’s email account, which revealed that he had emailed child pornography to others.”
On March 12, a search warrant was executed at Schillinger’s residence where law enforcement seized computers and several thumb drives. Schillinger was arrested and interviewed at the Houlton Police Department. Schillinger admitted his conduct when interviewed indicating that he used child pornography as a “control” against his sexual urges towards children.
Detective Kennedy was assisted by other members of his department along with law enforcement officers from the Presque Isle Police Department, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Schillinger was convicted of public indecency on May 14, 1985 and three counts of gross sexual misconduct on June 9, 1986. On Dec. 3, 1990, Schillinger had his probation revoked for failing to complete sex offender counseling. He is a lifetime registrant on the Maine Sex Offender Registry.
