A 48-year-old Pahoa man is facing up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court Thursday to possessing child pornography.

Dennis S. Baring pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography involving children under the age of 12.

"I downloaded child porn," Baring told U.S. District Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang. "Child(ren) having sex."

Baring faces up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine for each count. He will have to register as a sex offender.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Tong told the judge that in May 2012 an undercover FBI agent in Oklahoma searching file server networks online was able to download child pornography from a computer registered to an address in Hawaii. The address was traced to Baring’s home in Pahoa.

In February 2013, agents searched Baring’s home and found hard copies of child pornography and digital files on electronic storage devices, Tong said.

Baring was returned to the Federal Detention Center to await sentencing on Feb. 5.