BANGOR, Maine — A Sedgwick man pleaded guilty Monday to possession of child pornography during a hearing in U.S. District Court, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced in a news release.
John Tapley, 58, brought his laptop computer to a computer repair shop for service in January 2013, court records and proceedings showed.
A service technician found sexually suggestive images of prepubescent girls on the computer and reported it to the police. Law enforcement agents obtained a search warrant for the computer and found images and videos of child pornography.
Tapley faces a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He faces an enhanced sentence because of two prior Maine Superior Court convictions for unlawful sexual contact, Delahanty said.
Tapley will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation that led to the guilty plea was conducted by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the Ellsworth Police Department.