A Connecticut man was convicted of one count of Advertising Child Pornography and two counts of Distributing Child Pornography in an Anchorage Court today.

59-year-old Michael Carroll of Milford, Connecticut, was convicted of one count of Advertising Child Pornography and two counts of Distribution of Child Pornography by an Anchorage Jury on Thursday.

Trial evidence demonstrated that in late 2011, Carroll offered to trade sexually explicit images of children with other users involved in an international email group that an undercover agent in Alaska had infiltrated. Carroll also distributed close to 100 sexually explicit images on two occasions to the approximately fifty persons in this same email group, including the Alaskan undercover agent.

The sexually explicit images of children that Carroll distributed involved victims ranging in age from infancy to prepubesence. Other offenders in the same email group were previously prosecuted in Alaska.

Carroll argued in court that someone had hacked his computer via remote control and had distributed the illegal material through his Yahoo email account. He told the court that he was a highly skilled computer technician with a very sophisticated network, but even so, hackers were able to access his computer and send the illegal material to and through his Yahoo account. He also said that those very same hackers were able to infect his computer with illegal images of child pornography.

Carroll likened his hacking experience to that of Target, who recently suffered a security breach affecting millions of their customers. The jury rejected his assertions that he was hacked and his computer was populated with images of young children without his knowledge.

After his conviction, Judge Ralph Beistline set Corroll’s sentencing hearing for April 23, 2014. Caroll faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison with a maximum of 30 years for advertising Child APornography. For distribution, Carroll faces a minimum of five years and a fine of $250,000 for each count.