Associated Press - July 30, 2009 3:04 PM ET

COEUR d'Alene, Idaho (AP) - A 58-year-old registered sex offender from Silverton has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Kenneth J. Hendryx was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns. Hendryx, who pleaded guilty in March, was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release.

The investigation began in August 2008, when the Shoshone County sheriff's office received information indicating Hendryx was using the Internet to download videos of children being sexually abused. Two computers and numerous external hard drives containing explicit images of minors were seized during a search of Hendryx's house. Officers said some of the videos showed the sexual abuse of children under the age of 5.

Court records say Hendryx was required to register as a sex offender because of a conviction for sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl when he was 41.

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