PORTLAND — A children’s martial arts instructor who is accused of recording images and videos of unconscious boys being sexually molested made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Monday to face a charge of producing child pornography.

Wade Hoover, 34, of Augusta waived a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk and consented to being held in federal custody until his trial, according to court records.

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Wade Hoover

Hoover taught martial arts at the Koshow Warriors studio in Lewiston and worked for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Augusta, according to an affidavit filed by a federal agent seeking the charge against him.

Federal agents began investigating Hoover in October after tracing child pornography being traded online over an address associated with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

After being confronted at his employer’s office by federal agents and state police, Hoover admitted that he used his personal laptop computer while at work to download child pornography, according to the affidavit.

Investigators say they later found videos on Hoover’s laptop, including one of him sexually assaulting one of his juvenile martial arts students, who was medicated and unconscious in the video. Other videos depict Hoover and at least one other man sexually assaulting unconscious prepubescent boys, according to the affidavit.

If convicted of producing child pornography, Hoover will face 15 to 30 years in prison.

Staff Writer Scott Dolan can be contacted at: 791-6304 or at

sdolan@mainetoday.com