A Berwick man who spent years amassing a collection of more than 500 pornographic videos and images of children pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland to a charge of possession of child pornography.

Peter Anderson, 55, had been released on $50,000 bond after his arrest last Oct. 22.

Anderson appeared in court before Judge Nancy Torresen on Friday and waived his right to have the case against him presented to a grand jury.

He is scheduled to reappear in court on Aug. 7 for a sentencing hearing, at which he faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of as much as $250,000.

Berwick police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at Anderson’s home at 5 Shadow Lane in Berwick on April 21, 2014, and he admitted downloading the illegal videos and images from the Internet for “the past few years,” according to an affidavit filed with the court by FBI Special Agent Thomas MacDonald.

Authorities did not arrest Anderson at his house that day but seized electronic records of 105 child pornography videos and 430 child pornography images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children confirmed that many of those files were made of children being sexually abused from locations in the United States and around the world, though not in Maine, the affidavit says.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: scottddolan

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