A 42-year-old Butler man who possessed child pornography and shared it online will serve 24 to 49 months in the county prison.

Mitchell L. Vlassich, 39, pleaded guilty to more than a dozen felony charges and was sentenced Thursday by Butler County Judge Timothy McCune.

According to court records, Vlassich downloaded and distributed child porn through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Undercover agents investigating the online distribution of child pornography found three graphic video files depicting children between the ages of 6 and 14 and traced the IP address associated with the files to Vlassich’s apartment in the 100 block of West Jefferson Street.

Agents then reportedly searched his home and turned up a computer with numerous images of child pornography.

Court records say Vlassich, when confronted by investigators, initially denied wrongdoing but eventually admitted to searching for and downloading pornography depicting children, some as young as 4 years old, two or three times a week.

The judge gave Vlassich credit for the 339 days he was in prison while awaiting resolution of the case.

This case was prosecuted by the state Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section.