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John Hiatt, Penobscot County Treasurer, indicted on felony charges

A Penobscot County Grand Jury indicted country treasurer and former Bangor School Committee member John David Hiatt Friday on various charges

BANGOR, Maine — EDITORS NOTE: The above video was published earlier this week when Hiatt didn't appear at a county meeting. 

Penobscot County Treasurer and former Bangor school committee member John Hiatt was indicted on four charges stemming from a 2020 stalking case of a former girlfriend.

The Penobscot County grand jury returned indictments on aggravated criminal invasion of computer privacy, stalking, harassment, and theft by unauthorized taking charges. 

At his May arrest, officials said Hiatt was allegedly harassing a woman over the internet and cell phone. They allege he also took over and manipulated the victim's social media accounts without her permission. 

RELATED: Additional charges brought down on Bangor area politician in harassment investigation

"Detectives from our Criminal Investigation Division began investigating and on May 6, they executed a search warrant at Hiatt's residence," said Bangor Police Department Sergeant Wade Betters in a press release at the time. "In recent days, a detective posing as the alleged victim online began receiving numerous messages from Hiatt. This afternoon, detectives applied for and received and a warrant for Hiatt's arrest."

According to the Bangor Daily News, the woman, who dated Hiatt for a time, obtained a protection order against Hiatt on November 13, 2018. According to the BDN, the order remained in place for a year.

RELATED: Bangor area politician arrested and charged with harassment

Hiatt has been out on bail on those charges since May. 

Police arrested Hiatt again earlier this month.

Bangor police said detectives got an additional warrant for Hiatt's arrest on August 8, charging him with possession of sexually explicit material of children under the age of 12 years old, a Class C felony. Hiatt was released on $1,000 bail shortly after his arrest. 

Hiatt has been a controversial figure since his May arrest. 

Just this week, Hiatt, who had previously refused to step down as the Penobscot County Treasurer, failed to show up for the county commissioners' meeting for the second straight week on Tuesday.

During the meeting, county administrator Erika Honey said that Hiatt left her a voicemail on Monday saying he would attend the meeting. There was no indication that anything had changed. 

That came after Hiatt agreed to resign from his Bangor school board position in mid-July but announced he would not step down as Penobscot County Treasurer.

According to previous reports, if found guilty on the invasion of privacy charges, Hiatt could spend up to five years in prison. 

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