BURLINGTON – A federal judge has ruled there is enough evidence to order the pre-trial detention of a Burlington acupuncturist and herbalist, who is facing multiple child pornography charges.

Stephen A. Lane, 56, who operates Single Needle Acupuncture on Battery Street, appeared in federal court with his two defense lawyers on Friday for arguments on why he should be released to the community pending trial.

However Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ophardt countered their claims and said Lane could not be trusted to follow any conditions of release imposed by a federal judge.

Ophardt said Lane appeared to have multiple violations when a state judge released him on conditions and nothing was done about it.

Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss agreed with Ophardt and overturned an earlier order by Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle. 

Reiss said by clear and convincing evidence there was no known release condition — or combination of conditions — that would reasonably assure the safety of the public.

Lane has been facing similar criminal charges in Vermont Superior Court for 13 months and Reiss said she found it troubling to learn the defendant was apparently ignoring his state release conditions, at least in recent months. 

Reiss also said it was troublesome that investigators found four cellphones, two tablets, a laptop and three media storage devices following his federal arrest when state conditions had restricted his access.

Reiss appeared perplexed when Ophardt reported that in the month before his arrest Lane had over 2,300 text messages, according to the investigation by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Vermont-ICAC Detective Brandon Gallant, a trained computer forensic examiner, found at least seven search terms that were sexual in nature, court papers note.  The searches happened between Nov. 11 and Dec. 4 and there were visits to a pornographic website that includes live streaming and chatting options, according to Gallant, a former Vermont State trooper.

Reiss also questioned how much Lane’s family and friends actually know the details of his charged conduct.  They had provided supportive letters to the federal court seeking his release, she said.

Defense lawyers Sara Puls and Jessica Burke insisted there were conditions of release for Lane to be freed.

Puls said Lane had no known criminal history and is in treatment for his sex addiction.

Reiss said there had been a court-ordered search at Lane’s residence in Worcester, Mass. as COVID began and that should have been a “shock event” for the defendant to review his conduct. 

Lane was never charged in court in that case, Reiss said.

She noted Lane was previously employed by the Howard Center in Burlington working with autistic children.  

Lane, who now also works for Lake Champlain Chocolates, pleaded not guilty in federal court to three felony child pornography charges last week.

Doyle had agreed to release Lane a week ago on strict conditions, including he refrain from any new crimes and that he wear a location monitoring device. Doyle also ordered home detention, except when Lane is at work or attending court, legal, medical appointments, including mental health counseling.

Ophardt, who is chief of the criminal division, asked the court to put the brakes on the release until he could appeal the ruling to Reiss. 

The U.S. Marshals Service held him for the past week at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town pending the appeal.

Vermont-ICAC Investigator Sarah Superneau said in court papers the original tip came from Department of the Army Criminal Intelligence Division.

Superneau said Lane had communicated online via Meeff and WhatsApp with a Department of the Army Special Agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.  Lane reportedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the undercover investigator, the detective said.

Ophardt had argued Lane could not be trusted to follow court release conditions. 

He explained federal prosecutors recently adopted the criminal case from the state.  He said when it was first pitched last year his office was short-handed and flooded with work.  He said with more staffing and a new evaluation of the case – including the new violations — a decision was made that it warranted federal prosecution.

Federal officials initially also had claimed Lane moved out of his apartment at 61 St. Peter St. in Winooski and relocated to North Union Street in Burlington and failed to notify the clerk’s office in Vermont Superior Court as required by his state conditions.

Defense lawyer Jessica Burke told Doyle she was to blame for the lack of notification to the court. Burke said Lane notified her he had moved, but she failed to alert the clerk’s office about the change of address as required by his bail conditions.

The government dropped that claim against Lane.