Federal authorities will not pursue charges of disseminating child pornography, leaving Wayne Buchanan to face state charges of possession
Maine prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint against the former archdeacon for the Northeast for CANA’s Diocese of the East for possession of child pornography. On 2 December 2016 Hancock County District Attorney Matthew Foster announced that Wayne Buchanan (62) had been issued a summons, charging him with felony possession of sexually explicit material of children under the age of 12. On 7 Jan 2016 the Rt. Rev. Julian Dobbs accepted the resignation of the Ven. Wayne Buchanan as rector of St Brendan’s Anglican Church in Bass Harbor and a subsequent review by the diocese led to Dr. Buchanan’s removal from holy orders. In February Bishop Dobbs told the Bangor Daily News Dr. Buchanan’s dismissal was “not something that is appropriate at this time” to discuss, but confirmed his ex-archdeacon was being investigated by police for a matter unrelated to his tenure at St Brendan’s. An affidavit prepared by Detective David Armstrong of the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit alleged that on 27 Dec 2015 police identified a computer in their jurisdiction that was seeding pornographic materials. On 6 Jan 2016 Maine State Police executed the search warrant at Dr. Buchanan’s home seizing computers, thumb drives and a memory card. After reviewing the files taken from Buchanan’s computer, police brought the results of their investigation to state prosecutors. They concluded, however, that Buchanan was not disseminating child pornography leading Federal authorities to decline to pursue charges. The case is expected to come before a county grand jury this winter, and if convicted after trial on all counts, Buchanan would face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines up to $2000.
