A 43-year-old Hutchinson man arrested back in June of last year in association with the download and alleged distribution of child pornography was supposed to see his case go before a jury this week, but instead he entered a plea on Friday instead.

Wayne Pendarvis entered a plea to the single charge of sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 18. He was apparently in possession of the images along with allegedly distributing the pictures.

It started when the Exploited and Missing Child Unit of the Wichita Police Department received a partial download from a shared file, from Pendarvis and that led to a joint investigation with Hutchinson Police. A search warrant was served on his home and during the search, they seized his computer and allegedly there were more images of children on his computer.

With the plea entered in the case, sentencing was set for May 17.

Pendarvis was a counselor at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility and has since left that job.