A man listed on the state's sex offender registry for possessing sexually explicit material pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to two counts of possession of child pornography.
Brian P. Hinkley, 28, of Strong was ordered held by U.S. marshals after the hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor. A sentencing date will be set later.
He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, according to a news release from Gail Fisk Malone, assistant U.S. attorney.
Hinkley originally was charged with two counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of transportation of child pornography after two search warrants were executed by federal authorities.
FBI agents conducted a search warrant at the Strong home he shared with his grandmother on July 21, 2005.
They seized his computer and other media and reported finding more than 500 images of child pornography, 143 of whom depicted minors who could be identified.
Later, in April 2006, Maine State Police executed a search warrant at the Sabattus home of a friend of Hinkley.
Hinkley stopped by the home nightly and used his laptop to log on to their wireless connection, according to Malone. In that raid, police seized his laptop and reported finding 300 images of child pornography, 80 of which had a minor who could be identified.
In interviews with police, Hinkley said he had several Internet accounts on which he stored pornographic images of children and that he was attracted to girls about 10 years old, according to the prosecutor's version of events.
Hinkley told authorities he was doing research for a book on pedophiles and how to protect children from them, but he had not written anything yet.
Hinkley's attorneys were unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
He was convicted Feb. 26, 2003, in Farmington District Court of possession of sexually explicit materials. He was given a 364-day suspended sentence and placed on probation for a year.
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