Wayne County District Attorney A.G. Howell announced the arrest of Ethan Maines, age 29, of
Lake Township, Wayne County, PA for two separate but related incidents regarding Megan’s Law violations and possession of child sexual abuse material. Maines was charged with eight (8) counts of Failure to Comply with Registration Requirements, fourteen (14) counts of possession of Child Pornography and Criminal Use of Communication Facility.
According to the probable cause affidavits in the two Criminal Complaint by Detective Michael McMorrow, the investigation began on April 22, 2026 when the Wayne County Detectives received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the attempted dissemination of child pornography. This CyberTipline report was initially submitted by Dropbox, Inc. (Dropbox) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited.
According to Dropbox, on March 24, 2026, the account holder, identified by the username Ethan Maines with a registered email address, attempted to disseminate four files of child pornography, a total of six times. At the time of this incident, Dropbox intercepted the IP address used to log in to the Dropbox infrastructure. Detectives reviewed the four related files in question and determined they were in violation of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, Section 6312, related to child sexual abuse material.
After reviewing this content, detectives then conducted a check of the IP address provided by
Dropbox and eventually determined that the IP address was registered to Maines’ home address.
The email addresses provided by Dropbox identified the subscriber as Maines. It was then discovered that Maines was a registered sex offender after previously pleading guilty in Wayne County to possession of child pornography back in March 2025. He was just recently released from incarceration and was placed on parole.
Detectives reviewed Maines’ Megan’s Law registration information and through further investigation discovered that he did not disclose all of the information that he was required to disclose. After contact was made with Maines, additional images of child sexual abuse material were discovered on his cell phone. Maines was remanded to the Wayne County Correctional Facility (WCCF) for violating the conditions of his parole.
On June 10, 2026, a Preliminary Arraignment was conducted by Magisterial District Judge Ellis for the charges related to the Failure to Comply with Registration Requirements. Bail was set at $250,000.00 and Maines was remanded back to the WCCF. He was ordered not to have any contact with children and was ordered not to have any internet access.
On June 11, 2026, another Preliminary Arraignment was conducted by Magisterial District Judge Carney for the charges related to the Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. Bail was set at an additional $250,000.00 and Maines was remanded back to the WCCF. He was again ordered not to have any contact with children and was ordered not to have any internet access.
His next court appearance is scheduled for July 8, 2026 at 9:00 am at the central court in the Wayne County Courthouse.
*The filing of criminal charges is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Commonwealth against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the Commonwealth has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant enters a guilty plea to the charges.