When the news first broke here in Hancock (Hancock Point being the original parental summer compound)- well, the "talk" around the elite summer folk was that the material belonged to his developmentally disabled son. Can you imagine a world view so warped that thinking he was taking a noble fall for his disabled son made more sense than that the man himself had a horrible secret? I also appreciated your extensive dive into the two governor races- laying out all of all that awfulness (Lepage rein affects Maine adversely to this day) added to the outrage. Great Article. Seriously belongs in Rollingstone or some such place to read by millions. Good work.
Sickening. Amazed another felon in prison didn't end his life..assuming word got out as to why he was imprisoned. The April, 2023 Plea Agreement almost sanitizes just how sick Cutler's prurient deviations were and even the prosecutor says as much at page 13 of the Agreement and Sentencing Memorandum.."[t]rying to describe these videos in the Sentencing Memorandum completely sanitizes the [child sexual abuse] acts." Now, given all of the privileges afforded Cutler during his prosecution and sentence, one is left wondering to what extent Probation & Parole will actually and fully execute its responsibilities over him over the next 6 years. Will they, for example, truly conduct unannounced and random visits to his residence and of any electronic devices contained within, etc. One is also left to wonder why his wife Melanie hasn't divorced him given the extent of Cutler's heinous sexual proclivities under her roof.
I agree, Erik, and I'm also curious to how Cutler is treated during his probation period. And I too wonder about how his wife (and kids) are dealing with the aftermath of his exposure.
I can't believe he's been lucky enough to enjoy such a radio silence as to his current state of affairs. I feel bad for his children, but not for his wife. There's no chance he lived this dual life entirely without her knowledge…
I'm insanely disappointed in myself that I missed this spectacular article/explanation for over a year!! Somewhere I saw a response that this piece should/should have gained MUCH broader exposure, ideally in the national press. It would be a spectacular Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone piece. Is there no way for you to approach national publications? This comprehensive, brilliantly and thoroughly researched and written piece deserves to be seen by a much more expansive audience! The salaciousness of it alone should easily open doors by the likes of Grayson Carter. Every single thing about this case reeks, as you meticulously point out, of all that is wrong in our government when it comes to greed, wealth, and privilege. Just imagine if he wasn't a creepy old white guy, what his fate might have been.
During the attempted and subsequent sale of Cutler's Cape Elizabeth Property, his intention was to downsize and keep an apartment in Portland. He first chose a magnificent and legendary John Calvin Stevens apartment on Neal Street and hired the contractor who had done much of the renovation on the Cape property. His chosen Contractor, a spectacular true historian perfectionist and appreciator of the magnificence of great architects & designs from "days gone by" was ordered to remove ALL WALLS in this beautiful apartment. When he balked citing the third floor above and the large flat roof which is occasionally weighted down by heavy snow as a reason to retain loadbearing walls, he was met by a demand of Cutler's to do as he was told, or risk being replaced by a contractor who would follow his orders. The apartment was listed by the same (slimy) brokers who were representing his laughably overpriced house in Cape.
Once a structural engineer who came by to check the flawed/dishonest demolition permit arrived and demanded that the loadbearing walls be returned, resulting in Cutler being unable to enjoy his "open concept" apartment, he decided to dump it. (he subsequently bought another half house on Pine Street). That's where we come in.
It was, I believe, the summer of 2018, when we walked into this beautiful space. As a very successful residential real estate broker in NYC for 17 years, I recognized an opportunity to truly start from scratch and effectively restore this beautiful space to its original grandeur. We entered a contract with Cutler through our reputable and Cutler's (IMO sleazy) brokers to purchase the apartment at a fairly deep discount, given what he had paid, and spent in plans and demolition.
Then all hell broke loose. The stated falsehoods to name a few; the denial of the existence of things like knob and tube wiring (still active in the apartment at our time of purchase), the claim that there was no asbestos (we were shut down by the EPA to have the asbestos laden tiles removed from a large portion of the back end of the apartment), the claim that no load-bearing walls had been removed (HAHA), and the unbeLIEVably sneaky withholding of board minutes by his brokers (required by law to be provided within a specific timeframe) ultimately caused us to exit our contract.
Da da Unfortunately for Cutler, once all of his dishonest claims came to light, neither he nor his sneaky brokers could avoid full disclosure of all said issues to future buyers. He was reported to be FURIOUS and wanted no part of continuing with us as purchasers. Much to Cutler's dismay, no other buyers stepped forward, allowing us to re-enter a contract which required him to remedy all outstanding issues. We maintained our original purchase price offer, but he had to invest significantly more in his already losing proposition.
One last deliriously delightful action was left for us to revel in… Cutler, hoping to drastically inconvenience us, scheduled the closing for the week of Thanksgiving, assuming that we would attend (from LA--never even on our radar screen as that's what reputable brokers are there for). Once he determined that we were not flying east and clearly because that's a busy week for everyone, he delayed the closing to the first week of December. At the closing, as things were wrapping up, our broker pointed out one last check that needed to be written; an assessment due by the owner of record as of Dec 1. I'd have given anything to be there to have seen the rage on his face as he reportedly pounded the conference room table replete with coffee cups, pitchers of cream, and coffee pots, allegedly sending things jumping on the table as he refused to pay. Needless to say, there was no way around it. We had the luxury of one last zinger being thrown his way :-) I can say that after 17 years in NYC real estate, buying this gutted shell of an apartment was the single dirtiest deal of my career.
It's perfectly beautiful now, having been restored to an updated version of its original grandeur, and since he never spent a night here or accessed any child rape videos from our space, we felt no need to have it saged 🙏😊
When the news first broke here in Hancock (Hancock Point being the original parental summer compound)- well, the "talk" around the elite summer folk was that the material belonged to his developmentally disabled son. Can you imagine a world view so warped that thinking he was taking a noble fall for his disabled son made more sense than that the man himself had a horrible secret? I also appreciated your extensive dive into the two governor races- laying out all of all that awfulness (Lepage rein affects Maine adversely to this day) added to the outrage. Great Article. Seriously belongs in Rollingstone or some such place to read by millions. Good work.
Ugh. I hope the elite summer folk of Hancock Point have come to their senses. Thanks for reading...
Sickening. Amazed another felon in prison didn't end his life..assuming word got out as to why he was imprisoned. The April, 2023 Plea Agreement almost sanitizes just how sick Cutler's prurient deviations were and even the prosecutor says as much at page 13 of the Agreement and Sentencing Memorandum.."[t]rying to describe these videos in the Sentencing Memorandum completely sanitizes the [child sexual abuse] acts." Now, given all of the privileges afforded Cutler during his prosecution and sentence, one is left wondering to what extent Probation & Parole will actually and fully execute its responsibilities over him over the next 6 years. Will they, for example, truly conduct unannounced and random visits to his residence and of any electronic devices contained within, etc. One is also left to wonder why his wife Melanie hasn't divorced him given the extent of Cutler's heinous sexual proclivities under her roof.
I agree, Erik, and I'm also curious to how Cutler is treated during his probation period. And I too wonder about how his wife (and kids) are dealing with the aftermath of his exposure.
I can't believe he's been lucky enough to enjoy such a radio silence as to his current state of affairs. I feel bad for his children, but not for his wife. There's no chance he lived this dual life entirely without her knowledge…
Thanks for exposing all this, Crash. You do great work!
Thanks for reading, Jeff.
You betcha!
Amazing article. I never liked him…but this just says so much more. Thank you
I'm insanely disappointed in myself that I missed this spectacular article/explanation for over a year!! Somewhere I saw a response that this piece should/should have gained MUCH broader exposure, ideally in the national press. It would be a spectacular Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone piece. Is there no way for you to approach national publications? This comprehensive, brilliantly and thoroughly researched and written piece deserves to be seen by a much more expansive audience! The salaciousness of it alone should easily open doors by the likes of Grayson Carter. Every single thing about this case reeks, as you meticulously point out, of all that is wrong in our government when it comes to greed, wealth, and privilege. Just imagine if he wasn't a creepy old white guy, what his fate might have been.
During the attempted and subsequent sale of Cutler's Cape Elizabeth Property, his intention was to downsize and keep an apartment in Portland. He first chose a magnificent and legendary John Calvin Stevens apartment on Neal Street and hired the contractor who had done much of the renovation on the Cape property. His chosen Contractor, a spectacular true historian perfectionist and appreciator of the magnificence of great architects & designs from "days gone by" was ordered to remove ALL WALLS in this beautiful apartment. When he balked citing the third floor above and the large flat roof which is occasionally weighted down by heavy snow as a reason to retain loadbearing walls, he was met by a demand of Cutler's to do as he was told, or risk being replaced by a contractor who would follow his orders. The apartment was listed by the same (slimy) brokers who were representing his laughably overpriced house in Cape.
Once a structural engineer who came by to check the flawed/dishonest demolition permit arrived and demanded that the loadbearing walls be returned, resulting in Cutler being unable to enjoy his "open concept" apartment, he decided to dump it. (he subsequently bought another half house on Pine Street). That's where we come in.
It was, I believe, the summer of 2018, when we walked into this beautiful space. As a very successful residential real estate broker in NYC for 17 years, I recognized an opportunity to truly start from scratch and effectively restore this beautiful space to its original grandeur. We entered a contract with Cutler through our reputable and Cutler's (IMO sleazy) brokers to purchase the apartment at a fairly deep discount, given what he had paid, and spent in plans and demolition.
Then all hell broke loose. The stated falsehoods to name a few; the denial of the existence of things like knob and tube wiring (still active in the apartment at our time of purchase), the claim that there was no asbestos (we were shut down by the EPA to have the asbestos laden tiles removed from a large portion of the back end of the apartment), the claim that no load-bearing walls had been removed (HAHA), and the unbeLIEVably sneaky withholding of board minutes by his brokers (required by law to be provided within a specific timeframe) ultimately caused us to exit our contract.
Da da Unfortunately for Cutler, once all of his dishonest claims came to light, neither he nor his sneaky brokers could avoid full disclosure of all said issues to future buyers. He was reported to be FURIOUS and wanted no part of continuing with us as purchasers. Much to Cutler's dismay, no other buyers stepped forward, allowing us to re-enter a contract which required him to remedy all outstanding issues. We maintained our original purchase price offer, but he had to invest significantly more in his already losing proposition.
One last deliriously delightful action was left for us to revel in… Cutler, hoping to drastically inconvenience us, scheduled the closing for the week of Thanksgiving, assuming that we would attend (from LA--never even on our radar screen as that's what reputable brokers are there for). Once he determined that we were not flying east and clearly because that's a busy week for everyone, he delayed the closing to the first week of December. At the closing, as things were wrapping up, our broker pointed out one last check that needed to be written; an assessment due by the owner of record as of Dec 1. I'd have given anything to be there to have seen the rage on his face as he reportedly pounded the conference room table replete with coffee cups, pitchers of cream, and coffee pots, allegedly sending things jumping on the table as he refused to pay. Needless to say, there was no way around it. We had the luxury of one last zinger being thrown his way :-) I can say that after 17 years in NYC real estate, buying this gutted shell of an apartment was the single dirtiest deal of my career.
It's perfectly beautiful now, having been restored to an updated version of its original grandeur, and since he never spent a night here or accessed any child rape videos from our space, we felt no need to have it saged 🙏😊
**error above. I intended to say Graydon Carter (Air Mail) or Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone for national publication.