From campaigning on issues such as raising the minimum wage to universal healthcare, the Maine People's Alliance champions causes dear to most left-leaning Americans' hearts. But a shocking report from Maine First Media suggests that the activist group has been colluding with a convicted child molester.
According to staff reporter Michelle Thompson, one of the groups members -- a 48-year-old registered sex offender named Douglas Lane -- has attended several protests and rallies in which young children were present. Lane, a Lewiston native, was convicted in 1999 of gross sexual assault on two children under the age of fourteen, according to court documents obtained by Maine First Media.
As a consequence of the conviction, Lane has been listed on the state's sex offender registry. However, under Maine state law, Lane isn't required to identify himself as a sex offender. Yet, in spite of his criminal convictions, Maine People's Alliance doesn't seem to mind his presence at events in which children are in attendance. In fact, the group seems to have embraced the sex offender with open arms, possibly even putting him on the organization's payroll.
"The leadership at Maine People’s Alliance have clearly welcomed Mr. Lane to their activities and protests and have even possibly paid him as an activist," writes Thompson.
MPA refuses to comment
The Daily Caller News Foundation has attempted to verify this allegation by contacting multiple office locations utilized by the left-wing activism group, but Maine People's Alliance has refused to comment.
While the extent of Lane's involvement with the group has yet to be determined, Maine First Media published several photos of Lane at various MPA functions, posing in close proximity to organization leadership. One photo shows the sex offender at a Lewiston protest of the nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, in which Lane is posing alongside MPA organizer Nate LeClair and other prominent progressive activists.
Another photo shows Lane on stage behind a Lewiston mayoral candidate.
Maine First Media also exposed unnerving details regarding Doug Lane's social media accounts. His Facebook profile lists him belonging to numerous sexually explicit groups, some of which are geared toward minors and young men. The Maine People's Alliance, unphased by Lane's questionable internet "interests," continues to allow him to come into contact with minors -- even though state law forbids it.
Greg Paquet, supervisor of the Maine State Sex Offender Registry, explained to the Daily Caller that, as a sex offender, Lane may not "knowingly or intentionally" have contact with a minor under the age of fourteen, and is prohibited from entering certain public areas such as schools, child care centers, parks, athletic fields, pools or any other location where children might be present.
Where is the outcry from mainstream media?
Unfortunately, the Doug Lane case is not an isolated incident. Since the election of President Trump, several liberal activist groups have embraced pedophiles and child molesters into their ranks -- with some of them even holding leadership positions. Micah Rhodes -- head of Portland, Oregon's anti-Trump "Resistance" group -- was arrested and charged with four counts of second-degree sexual abuse in January after engaging in a relationship with an underage boy he met through the dating app, Grindr. Portland's KGW.com reported that at the time of Rhodes' alleged relationship with the underage boy, he was already on parole for first-degree sexual abuse and sodomy convictions.
