BURLINGTON — A New Haven man is facing federal charges of distribution of child pornography and assaulting a federal agent during a court-ordered raid at his Addison County home.
Colin Germain, 20, of Twitchell Hill Road appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Friday, March 9. His case was continued until Wednesday afternoon at the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole P. Cate. This week the defense asked for a two-day delay because Germain has been given a new guardian.
The Department of Homeland Security filed a criminal complaint against Germain claiming he knowingly used his computer on Aug. 2 to distribute the visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and that on Nov. 7 he kicked a federal agent while a federal search warrant was executed at his home.
Federal agents, assisted by Bristol and state police, seized 61 cell phones, 45 Apple iPods, 13 thumb drives, three DVD/CD’s, and two computer tablets among other items during the search at the Twitchell Hill Road residence, Special Agent Mark Curtis of Homeland Security Investigations reported in court papers.
During the early morning raid Germain kicked Special Agent Michael McCullagh in the upper, inner section of his right thigh near his groin, Special Agent Caitlin Moynihan said in her five-page complaint
Following the November raid, Germain admitted during questioning to sending a video involving a girl and a dog to two or three people, Moynihan said. She said he estimated the girl was about 8 to 10 years old.
Germain denied any sexual contact with children, Moynihan wrote.
The single-story ranch style home with yellow/tan siding and brown shutters is shared by his mother, Maureen Stevens, and stepfather, Wade Stevens, court records show.
The child pornography case in Vermont was sparked by an investigation starting in Tennessee on March 17, 2016, Agent Curtis said in an 18-page affidavit. He said as the investigation continued and a search was conducted in Hartsville, Tenn., on Aug. 14, 2017, investigators found a link to Vermont.
The investigation eventually revealed an email address serviced by Waitsfield Telecom in Vermont was being used to exchange child pornography, Curtis said. The email was sent from a computer at the home of Germain’s mother, court records show.
Vermont State Police reported they had gone to the house in November 2016 for a family fight and Maureen Stevens indicated that her son “has mental health issues.” Germain, who had assaulted his stepfather, was taken into protective custody that day, court records show.
Court records show that Germain had been receiving service at Counseling Services of Addison County to address his mental health issues.
Separately, Vermont State Police — with help from the Addison County Sheriff’s Department and Agency of Homeland Security Investigation — on March 9 executed a search warrant at the Twitchell Hill Road home in New Haven. Troopers report that they found evidence there that belonged to Germain, and that he was not supposed to have. State police arrested Germain, took him to the New Haven barracks, cited him for violation of court issued conditions of release, and released him into the custody of the Agency of Homeland Security Investigations. He is scheduled to answer this charge in Addison Superior Court, Criminal Division, on May 7.