BIDDEFORD, Maine — A Biddeford man, who is a former ed tech at Biddeford Middle School, was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison in the U.S. District Court in Portland.
Jesse Kiesel, 49, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy to 44 months in prison with five years of supervised release, a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine said Thursday.
In addition to his sentencing, Kiesel was "ordered to pay $7,500 in monetary assessments applicable to defendants in child sexual exploitation cases and $4,000 in restitution," the release states.
Court documents reveal that Kiesel engaged in a conversation on the internet with an undercover law enforcement member who was posing as a 13-year-old girl in April of 2021, according to the release.
He pleaded guilty July 21, 2022.
"During the chat, Kiesel steered the conversation towards the topics of sex and sexual contact and ultimately transmitted images of his erect penis to the undercover officer," the release wrote.
A search warrant was conducted at Kiesel's home and during the search "numerous sexually explicit images of minors" were found on his computer, the release states.
Kiesel was employed as an Ed Tech II at Biddeford Middle School during the time of his arrest, according to the release. He pleaded guilty on July 21, 2022.
"Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case with assistance from the Biddeford Police Department, the Newbury (MA) Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service," the release wrote.
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