Augusta -
An Augusta man who worked with children and is accused of possessing child pornography was in court Friday afternoon.
State Police say they found 34-year-old Wade Hoover in possession of more than a dozen images of child porn.
Hoover appeared in court via video.
Court documents say Hoover admitted to having and was found in possession of sexually explicit images of children under 12.
Police say at least one of those children is from Maine.
State Police tell us Hoover ran the Kosho Martial Arts Studio in Lewiston and taught karate to kids as young as three.
The studio put this message on its Facebook page today:
"We have been discussing this current situation and have decided to hold a parents only meeting on saturday at 10 am."
Hoover also worked at the National Alliance for Mental Health where, police say, he was using his personal computer to distribute the child porn.
NAMI released the following statement today:
"We are shocked, alarmed, and saddened. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We want to assure all who utilize our services and who are familiar with us, that we conduct criminal, child abuse, and motor vehicle background checks on all new hires."
Hoover is being held at the Kennebec County Jail on $5000 bail.
If released he's not to have contact with children and isn't allowed to use computers.
He'll be back in court in December.
Add your Comments