According to police, an investigation was launched back in May when a woman contacted police about a suspicious Craigslist ad in which a person said he was interested in giving baths to young children.
The ad was flagged and deleted from Craigslist, however, investigators were able to obtain the i.p. address of the person responsible for posting the ad and traced it back to Bard's address.
During questioning, Bard admitted to posting the ad and informed police that he had six different computers inside his home, all of which likely contained child pornography. Detectives seized the computers and related memory devices and had them analyzed by forensic investigators.
A photo retrieved from a portable memory device showed Bard with a young girl. Bard identified the girl as a child he babysat for while the child's mother was at work. The child told police that Bard touched her, went into the shower with her and took photos of her while she was undressed.
Investigators say Bard used his cell phone to record videos of himself molesting the girl and then stored the videos on a memory card. Forensic experts believe the images and videos were created between September 2011 and March 2012.
Bard was booked into the Kennebec County Jail and charged with gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and sexual exploitation of a minor under 12 years of age. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.
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