A local martial arts instructor has been indicted by the grand jury for charges that allege he tampered with a witness.

Brant Perkins, 56, of Boothbay Harbor was indicted by the Lincoln County Grand Jury for charges alleging he attempted to have a student provide an alibi for him.

Perkins was originally charged with sexual abuse of a minor and possession of child pornography in 2013 after authorities were tipped-off by a former associate.

Perkins was originally arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor after he and one of his students allegedly had a sexual relationship in 2012. The student was underage at the time of the alleged acts.

The authorities were reportedly tipped-off in 2013. At one point, Perkins is alleged to have admitted trading nude photographs with the victim. Perkins was approached in Randolph in 2013 by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective Joshua Birmingham, who asked repeatedly for Perkins' phone. According to Birmingham’s report, when he first opened the phone, he allegedly found “a group of photographs depicting prepubescent females performing sexual acts.” After a warrant was secured, Birmingham allegedly found 10 such images on Perkins' phone.

Perkins was later charged with possession of sexually explicit material for the images allegedly found on his phone. The images were allegedly to have been put on Perkins’ phone on the morning of Dec. 29, 2012.

In December 2014, a notice of alibi was given by Perkins' lawyer and reportedly claimed that Perkins was giving a private jiu jitsu lesson to a student on the date that the images were alleged to have been downloaded, and that during the lesson, Perkins reportedly left his cell phone at home.

When Birmingham spoke with the student who allegedly wrote the journal in which the alibi was written, he denied that it had been changed or fabricated. A week later, when Birmingham met with the student, he reportedly admitted that the journal was false and that he allegedly started it to help Perkins.

According to the arrest report, to help provide an alibi, Perkins allegedly drove another student to the Rite-Aid in Boothbay Harbor and purchased a journal for the student. The date on the journal couldn't be verified, so another journal was allegedly found and Perkins reportedly called the student several times to see if he had filled out the journal.

Perkins was arrested in January 2014 and charged with Class C tampering with a witness or informant and Class E violating the conditions of his release.