A Minnesota man who shared child porn online is going to prison for a long time.

According to a news release from the state attorney's office, 41-year-old Jeremy David Mount of Hutchinson pleaded guilty earlier this year to producing and receiving child pornography. He was sentenced on Thursday to 262 months in prison and 20 years of supervision upon release.

An undercover officer with a police department overseas alerted Homeland Security about Mount's online activity back in February 2016, the release says. 

Investigators then got a search warrant for Mount's apartment in Hutchinson, where they found "dozens" of child porn images that he kept on his computer and traded with other people through email. 

Mount also had several dozen photos on his cell phone of preschool-age kids "to whom he had access," the release says.

Authorities say this case illustrates what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies – nationally and internationally – work together to catch a predator.

“These are some of the most difficult types of cases to work, but seeing defendants, like Jeremy Mount, receive just sentences and knowing that one more child is safe from harm makes it all worthwhile," Assistant United States Attorney Katharine Buzicky said in the release.

The scope of child pornography

The Department of Justice says child pornography was almost wiped out in the 1980s thanks to some successful prevention campaigns. But the explosion of the internet – which has provided fast, easy, anonymous methods to transfer files – has once again made it a widespread issue.

In 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it received 8.2 million reports to its cyber tipline, with most regarding images of possible child sexual abuse, reports of "sextortion," child sex trafficking and child sexual molestation. The group also has a team dedicated to identifying children in photos and videos that show sexual abuse, and to date has reviewed 192 million pieces of media – resulting in 12,500 children identified by law enforcement.

One study by the group Thorn found three out of every 10 searches on the eDonkey p2p network relate to child pornography.