FARGO, ND (KXNET) — A U.S. District Judge in Fargo has sentenced a Cavalier man to nearly three decades in prison for receiving child pornographic material and failing to register as a sex offender.

Cody John O’Hara, 35, was given a 27-year sentence on the child pornography and failure to register as a sex offender charges, followed by two years for violating a previous supervised release.

In 2012, O’Hara was convicted of possessing and receiving materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. At that time, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison followed by a five-year term of supervised release. He was also required to register as a sex offender.

After that conviction, according to investigators, O’Hara moved to Fargo. In 2021 and 2022, when probation officers followed up on visits to the address he listed, officers found they could not find him at the Fargo residence. A follow-up investigation revealed O’Hara was living with his girlfriend in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Officers asked for O’Hara’s cellphone to review, as part of the condition of his supervised release. According to investigators, a forensic examination of O’Hara’s phone revealed nearly 500 images and videos of child pornography. Following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, it was discovered that one of the children depicted in the child pornography images recovered from O’Hara’s phone was a child located in Minnesota, whom authorities said O’Hara was sexually abusing.

“This decades-long sentence protects children in North Dakota and beyond,” said United States Attorney Max Schneider. “As this case shows, criminals who exploit children will be swiftly dealt with by law enforcement, prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, and sent to federal prison.” Keeping kids safe is a priority of the highest order for our state and federal law enforcement partners.”