A Buxton man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of receiving child pornography as part of a plea deal in U.S. District Court in Portland in which prosecuters agreed to dismiss a second charge.

John Whittenburg, 62, is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Nancy Torresen on March 3, at which time the second charge of possession of child pornography will be dismissed, according to court records.

Whittenburg faces a minimum of five years in federal prison and up to 20 years. He also faces a fine of as much as $250,000.

A state police detective and a federal agent went to Whittenburg’s Buxton home in April 2012 while investigating online sharing of child pornography. Whittenburg admitted to downloading child pornography and consented to let the investigators search his home, according to court records.

After seizing Whittenburg’s electronic devices, an investigator found thousands of images of child pornography on one external computer hard drive and more images on other devices, according to court records.

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

[email protected]

Twitter: @scottddolan

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