Maine Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material After HSI New England Investigation

BANGOR, Maine — An Old Town man was sentenced Aug. 27 in U.S. District Court in Bangor for possessing child pornography of a child under 12 after an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England found he had searched for and downloaded images of young children.

Matthew Podlaski, 40, was sentenced to 36 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $58,000 in restitution.

According to court records, between October and December 2022, Podlaski searched the internet for and downloaded images of the sexual abuse of young children, storing the images on multiple devices. HSI special agents seized 14 devices belonging to him, including laptop computers, flash drives and external storage devices. He pleaded guilty May 9.

HSI New England’s Bangor Resident Agent in Charge office investigated the case with the Old Town Maine Police Department and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit.

HSI is a global leader in the fight against child exploitation. Last year, HSI special agents dedicated 1.2 million case hours toward investigating child exploitation. This heinous crime harms the most vulnerable in our society: our kids. As technology evolves and more people have access to the internet, children are at a greater risk than ever. HSI’s special agents and analysts around the world are dedicated to countering this threat.

Report suspected child exploitation to the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP or through the CyberTipline on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.