ERIE — A Ridgway man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to charges relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

Jesse Porter, 42, of Polk Avenue, pleaded guilty to charges that he had recorded himself sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl, and took surreptitious, sexually explicit video of a 15-year-old female.

According to the criminal complaint, the incidents first came to light when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia were investigating a user of Kik Messenger account. The user they were investigating had received child pornography from a user whose screen name was “usemywife814pa.” The RCMP alerted the Department of Homeland Security Investigations in Pittsburgh.

The account was traced back to Porter, the complaint alleged.

The Canadian investigation showed that Porter had sent 3 files and received 55 files in Kik Messenger groups involving child pornography, the complaint stated. The complaint described three photos, taken at Porter’s home, one of which was sexually explicit.

The Homeland Security investigators served a search warrant on Nov. 7, 2018, on Porter’s home, and interviewed Porter’s wife. She was shown the photos, and identified the child and her husband from the images shown to her. She was also able to identify that the images had been taken at their residence, the complaint read.

The investigators went to Porter’s workplace and interviewed him. He denied producing, receiving or sending any cchild pornography, the complaint stated. When he was shown the image of him sexually abusing the child, he asked, “should I get an attorney,” the complaint alleged. Porter also asked investigators if they showed the images to his wife, according to the complaint.

Porter drove himself to the Ridgway-based state police barracks for further questioning. He admitted he took the photos and posted them to Kik Messenger, the complaint read.

There was no additional information in the criminal complaint as to the allegations of videotaping a female teen.

Porter pleaded guilty to the two charges before U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter.

Baxter scheduled sentencing for Nov. 6. The law provides for a total sentence of 60 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Pending sentencing, the court continued Porter on bond.

Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government. Porter is represented by attorney Philip Friedman.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Ridgway Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Porter.