BATH, Maine — A former Bath Bus Services driver was indicted Tuesday by a Sagadahoc County grand jury on charges he posted inappropriate photos of students online, according to a report Thursday.
The Brunswick Times Record reported Thursday that a grand jury returned indictments against 51-yr-old Timothy McGowan on violation of privacy and possession of sexually explicit materials charges.
The indictment said McGowen was in possession of images or materials depicting someone under the age of 12 years old, engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to the Times Record. The documents did not indicate whether the individual or individuals were from the Bath area.
In June of this year, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security alerted Maine State Police to a tip pointing to the bus driver as the source of pictures on a foreign website featuring school-age students. The investigation was further narrowed to the Bath area through the use of email traces and subpoenas, at which point the Bath Police Dept. joined the case.
The photographs were taken from an angle to look up the skirts of bus passengers. With the help of staff from the Bath area school district, investigators identified six girls from the pictures spanning the elementary, middle and high schools. School leaders notified parents at the time, a day after police served McGowan with a criminal summons.
Through a search of electric devices belonging to McGowan, police said they uncovered pictures that matched the images on the foreign website. Police said McGowan took the pictures while taking students to and from school and special events. Those pictures have since been taken offline, and police declined to reveal the address of the website where they appeared.
McGowen was not arrested at the time because violation of privacy charges were misdemeanor charges.
According to the Times Record, McGowen lives in Texas and has no ties to any Maine business.
McGowen is expected to be in court January 9 for a dispositional hearing, according to the paper.