BRENTWOOD — Prosecutors will be able to use statements a Hampton man made to police while his home was being searched for evidence that he had solicited a 14-year-old girl online for sex, according to a judge’s order.

Judge Kenneth McHugh said Matthew Preston, 31, was not in police custody when officers from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at his apartment on Jan. 26.

McHugh reached his decision last Wednesday, capping two days of hearings, which included legal arguments and sworn testimony by police.

Preston is headed to trial Oct. 22 on two counts of certain uses of a computer prohibited in Rockingham County Superior Court.

Defense lawyer Andrew Cotrupi argued that Preston was intimidated by about 10 police officers who came to his home, leading him to believe he was not free to leave.

Preston had made incriminating statements about a computer he disposed of while being interviewed by police, according to court records.

Cotrupi maintained that his client should have been read his Miranda rights before being questioned.

McHugh disagreed, saying police are only required to read a suspect their rights when they are in custody.

“There is no dispute that the defendant was not under formal arrest at the time he made statements to the police,” McHugh said in a court order. “They had not first obtained an arrest warrant.”

McHugh said he made his decision after considering court testimony and listening to a one-hour recording of Preston’s interview with Greenland police Chief Tara Laurent.

Police arrived unannounced at Preston’s home while he was having dinner with his girlfriend.

Laurent, a task force member, testified she had brought Preston into another room to question him — out of earshot from his girlfriend — to avoid him being embarrassed.

McHugh said he noticed “the calmness of Mr. Preston and his non-confrontational demeanor, which suggested that he was not intimidated to any degree by the police presence at his home.”

Many of the questions were accusatory, but the officer’s relaxed tone never changed — and neither did Preston’s, according to the judge’s order.

Police assured Preston that his statements would offer a mitigating factor once his case was heard in court.

“His chief concern was the potential animosity that his girlfriend’s family would have toward him as a result of his actions,” McHugh concluded.

jkimble@newstote.com