A 60-year-old Kalispell man and convicted sexual assaulter is heading to federal prison for 10 years after being caught looking at child pornography.

Rodney Royce Miller was sitting in his van — in which he lives — on Sept. 21, 2012, when a federal probation and parole officer walked up to check on him. The officer saw Miller looking at what he believed to be pornographic images of children.

Detectives from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the computer, which was later found to contain numerous images of child pornography, which Miller confirmed.

A Flathead County District Court document states Miller told law enforcement that he likes younger children, and that his favorite picture featured a girl between 10 and 12. He also estimated he had 100 of the images, and that when he looked at them he thought about touching children again.

Miller originally was given a 20-year suspended sentence in February 1996 after pleading guilty to a pair of felony sexual assault charges. In January 1999, Miller violated his sentence and was given a new sentence of 12 years in the Montana State Prison followed by eight years of probation.

He again violated his sentence in 2004 and was given a new sentence of eight years in prison and no probation. According to Montana Department of Corrections files, Miller was released after serving almost four years.

The violations were due to Miller’s continued use of alcohol, failure to remain law-abiding and failure to maintain gainful employment, according to court documents.

A release from the U.S. Department of Justice reported that because the federal system does not offer parole, guidelines mandate that Miller likely will serve all of his new sentence.

He can, however, earn a sentence reduction for good behavior, but the reduction cannot exceed 15 percent of his sentence. If Miller earned the maximum reduction, he would serve 8 1/2 years in prison.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at [email protected].