A Lewiston man who used internet chatrooms to find sexually explicit pictures of children pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to a charge of accessing with intent to view child pornography.
Douglas Blodgett, 46, faces 10 to 20 years in prison at his sentencing before Judge George Singal on Dec. 16 and a fine of as much as $250,000.
Blodgett admitted to federal investigators after they executed a search warrant at his home in Lewiston on March 4 that he used Internet Relay Chat channels and chatrooms to find child pornography. And agents were able to amass electronic evidence in the form of internet addresses that were traced as the source of the images, according to a prosecution document filed with the court.
Blodgett faces an enhanced sentence because he has a prior sex offense conviction, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He also faces between five years and up to life of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
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