Aidan Kearney, the Massachusetts man behind the controversial “Turtleboy” news blog, is in police custody as he faces a slew of criminal charges reportedly tied to his controversial coverage of the murder case against Karen Read.

Stoughton District Court records indicate Kearney has been charged with conspiracy; six counts of intimidating a witness, juror, police officer, or court official; and two counts of picketing a court, judge, juror, witness, or court officer. It was not immediately clear whether Kearney had an attorney who could speak to the charges.

The court clerk confirmed that Kearney is currently in Massachusetts State Police custody. Video from NBC10 Boston posted to the social media platform X shows several officers leading Kearney into the courthouse handcuffed.

Details about the charges were not immediately available, as Kearney has yet to be arraigned. However, he’s generated controversy in recent months while blogging prolifically about the pending case against Read, a Mansfield woman accused of backing her car into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, last year. 

Prosecutors allege that Read struck O’Keefe while dropping him off at a fellow Boston police officer’s home in Canton following a night of drinking in January 2022. Read’s lawyers, however, argue that she was framed and that fellow afterparty guests were really to blame — a theory the prosecution has repeatedly denied.

Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death. Her trial is tentatively set for March 12, 2024.

Meanwhile, the case has sparked fervent speculation at the local level, fueled in large part by Turtleboy, which had published 179 entries on Read’s case as of Wednesday afternoon.

Kearney has attended several of the pre-trial hearings in Read’s case, also promoting theories that Read was framed, leading demonstrations outside the courthouse, and filming his confrontations with law enforcement officials and witnesses in the case. 

In August, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey issued a rare video statement condemning the “baseless” harassment of witnesses in Read’s case, though he did not mention Kearney or Turtleboy by name.

“We try people in the court and not on the internet for a reason,” Morrissey said in the video. “The internet has no rules of evidence. The internet has no punishment for perjury. And the internet does not know all the facts.”

Reached for comment on Kearney’s criminal charges, a spokesperson for Morrissey said the DA, “utilizing the special prosecutor statute, appointed independent counsel to look into the accusations of witness intimidation and other actions by that party.”

The spokesperson named Ken Mello as the special prosecutor and directed further comment to the Fall River attorney.

Speaking to The Boston Globe, Mello confirmed that the charges against Kearney are related to the Read matter but declined to comment further before the arraignment Wednesday afternoon.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.