A former Manchester Township man was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years in prison for producing child pornography.

After a two-day trial in January, Brian William Walpole, 43, formerly of the 300 block of Bruaw Drive, was found guilty of sexual exploitation of a child, production of child pornography, distribution and receipt of child pornography and possession of images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

During his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Walpole was also ordered to pay a $1,800 fine and will be under supervision for the rest of his life, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

After Walpole serves his time, he will be deported to Canada, where he is a citizen, his defense attorney, Korey Leslie, had said.

File sharing: According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Walpole used an online peer-to-peer file-sharing program to share numerous images and video files that depicted the sexual abuse of children.

Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to share and download music, movies, games and images.

Authorities said Walpole unwittingly shared child pornography with an undercover FBI agent.

He also shot numerous videos of a minor boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct in 2008, federal prosecutors said. The boy was about 15 years old at the time, according to Walpole's federal indictment.

Walpole was arrested and prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

This wasn't the first time Walpole was prosecuted for sex offenses.

In 1995 he pleaded guilty to indecent assault and corruption of minors in York County. Walpole was sentenced to four years probation in that case.

- Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.