COEUR d'ALENE - A 50-year-old Athol man has agreed to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene for downloading child pornography to his computer from the Internet.

Samuel T. Ussery on Tuesday pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography, and U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge scheduled sentencing for March 26.

According to a plea agreement, on July 12, 2010, an investigator with what is called the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force developed information that a computer with an IP address belonging to Ussery was using "peer-to-peer" file-sharing software to access child porn.

Those using that software in cases like this place files in a shared directory on their computer and make them available for download by other users, court documents said.

The task force investigator connected to Ussery's computer's IP address and downloaded multiple images of child pornography.

Then, on Sept. 9, 2010, a federal search warrant was executed at Ussery's residence, at 6203 E. Highway 54, No. 16, where task force investigators seized his computer.

During an interview later that day, Ussery admitted that he had downloaded child pornography using the Internet and a peer-to-peer network and deleted the files from his computer.

A forensic analysis of Ussery's computer recovered a dozen child porn images, court documents said.

The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by, among others, the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office, Coeur d'Alene police, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, the Idaho attorney general's office, the U.S. Secret Service, and FBI.

The agencies are North Idaho members of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, focused on catching and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children.