A Butler man was sentenced Thursday in county Common Pleas Court to serve time in prison and register as a sexual offender after pleading guilty to a felony charge of child pornography.

Justin Michael Buchignani, 40, was sentenced to serve three to six months in the county prison followed by 36 months of probation.

Judge Timothy McCune also ordered Buchignani to register with state police as a Tier I sexual offender under Megan's Law for 15 years.

State police arrested Buchignani in December 2020 following an investigation that began in December 2019 after receiving a tip from the Crimes Against Children Task Force. The task force said that Google reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone had uploaded three images of suspected child pornography to its server in November 2019.

The investigation linked the internet account to Buchignani, and police executed a search warrant of his West Cunningham Street apartment in September 2020.

Buchignani was charged with 25 counts of child pornography, three felony counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts and one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Those charges were merged into one count of child pornography, which he pleaded guilty to in September.

McCune said Buchignani will have to report his address, employment, vehicle ownership, travel and internet identification to police for 15 years. He will also have to submit to photographs and submit DNA samples.