Federal Judge Convicts Northeast Harbor Man of Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

BANGOR, Maine:  A federal district court judge convicted a Northeast Harbor man today of failing to register as a sex offender following a half-day bench trial, Acting U.S. Attorney Donald E. Clark announced.

The evidence at trial revealed that in 2016, Jack Palmer, 70, was convicted in federal court in Bangor of possessing child pornography. As a result of that conviction, Palmer was required to register as a sex offender in Maine and to update that registration within three days if he changed residences. In November 2020, he moved from Portland to Northeast Harbor and failed to notify the Maine Sex Offender Registry. He lived at this residence until his arrest in April 2021.

Palmer faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The United States Marshals Service and the Bar Harbor/Mount Desert Police Department investigated the case.