SPOKANE — A Moses Lake man was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to five years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Christopher N. Newall, 47, Moses Lake, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Dec. 17, 2008.

U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle sentenced him to roughly five years in prison.

Law enforcement became involved when a neighbor complained to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office claiming Newall made an inappropriate remark to her adopted daughter on Sept. 11, 2007. When the neighbor confronted Newall, he admitted liking girls between the ages of 10 to 12 years old and he was trying to get treatment, according to U.S. District Court records.

When the sheriff’s office contacted Newall, he admitted to making the statement and denied acting on it. During the course of the conversation, the deputies asked him about child pornography, according to court records.

Newall allegedly told police they would probably find some pictures on his computer, that he hadn’t erased, and showed them where to find the pictures. The pictures were primarily of girls in the early teens.

Deputies applied for a search warrant, seized his computer and searched for illegal material, according to court records.

Deputies then contacted the FBI to help analyze the computer. Analysts found four movies and more than 100 pictures of child pornography. The images and movies were downloaded during the three months Newall owned the computer, according to court records.

“Next to calls for service for dogs in the county, sex crimes against children are probably number two or number three in the top complaints our office has to deal with,” said Grant County Undersheriff John Turley. “It is probably the worst epidemic of human disgust that we deal with on a daily basis. We’re talking about grandfathers, teachers, people of all walks of life.”

Thomas Rice, first assistant U.S. attorney, said it was a conscious decision to prosecute Newall in federal court because the penalties are harsher.

“Certain states may be resource-strapped so they may not take possession of child pornography as seriously as other crimes,” he said. “Many of our cases carry a five- to 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.”

Once Newall is released he will have to register as a sex offender and will be supervised by the court.

“These are some very important tools for dealing with him when he’s released from prison,” Rice said.