On 11 September 2026, the Cumberland County, Maine Sheriff’s Office in a media release posted to Instagram announced the arrest of former deputy Regan J. Goan on misdemeanor charges associated with his work as a polygrapher. The announcement is cited here in full:
MEDIA RELEASE
Date: 09/11/2026
Time: 3:30 pmThe Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office arrested former Bridgton Police Officer and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputy, Regan J. Goan, 51 years old of Raymond, on an arrest warrant.
The arrest stemmed from an investigation into misconduct specific to the former officer’s duties as a Polygraph Examiner.
Goan was charged with a series of misdemeanor crimes to include:
Unsworn Falsification – Class D
Violation of the Maine Polygraph Examiners Act – Class E
Multiple counts of Tampering with Public Records or Information – Class DGoan was booked at the Cumberland County Jail and has been released on bail pending his arraignment in Portland Court, scheduled for October 29, 2026.
Since 2015, Goan has run a private security consulting firm, RJ Goan & Associates, that advertises polygraph services as well as a so-named Validated Automated Screening Technology (VAST).
It is unusual for any polygraph operator to face criminal liability for official misconduct. In 2009, Chris Smith, then head of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s polygraph unit, was charged with assaulting a person he had polygraphed. In that case, charges were ultimately dropped.
In 2004, the then head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s polygraph unit, Roy Ortiz, was credibly accused of misconduct involving the falsification of documents (conduct seemingly similar to the charges against Goan), but the matter was ultimately swept under the carpet.
Calista Stocker earlier reported on Goan’s arrest for News Center Maine.