Richard Dale Hays will be spending the next seven years in a federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Wednesday sentenced Hays, 50, of Loose Creek, to seven years and three months in prison without parole following Hays' guilty plea to the possessing child pornography charge.
U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson's news release noted the sentence was "the toughest penalty recommended under the federal sentencing guidelines."
Federal officials began investigating the case Oct. 21, 2014, after Google notified law enforcement an image of child pornography had been uploaded to Hays' email account.
Dickinson's release said officers executed a search warrant at Hays' residence but didn't find the uploaded image on any of the phones searched or on the only computer found in the home.
The computer didn't have a hard drive, and Hays claimed he had removed it and thrown it away, investigators said.
Hays was a convicted sex offender, Dickinson said, with a long history of failed supervision by probation and parole officers, including refusing sexual offender counseling and treatment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez prosecuted the case after it was investigated by the St. Charles police department and the FBI.
Dickinson noted the Hays case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Justice Department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat a growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at www.usdoj.gov/psc. More information about internet safety education can be found at the same online address - then click on the "resources" tab.