Sex offender faces federal child-porn counts

A convicted sex offender faces federal charges alleging that he had more than 200 images of child pornography on his personal computer.

Avery A. Lundquist, 49, whose last known address was on Union Street in Watertown, is charged with sexual exploitation of minors for allegedly receiving and possessing the images, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

He was charged March 5 by Watertown police with possessing a sexual performance by a child after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who were monitoring an online chat room, allegedly saw Mr. Lundquist discuss having two young boys at his residence and say he was committing sexual acts with one of them, according to an agent's affidavit accompanying the complaint.

City police were sent to the residence to check the welfare of the youths, but found no children. After an interview, Mr. Lundquist allegedly gave police a written statement admitting he downloaded and saved pornographic images of children to his computer.

On March 22, a federal judge issued a search warrant for his computer, on which more than 200 images and seven videos containing child pornography allegedly were found.

Mr. Lundquist is registered with the state as a Level 2 sexual offender, according to court documents and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services website. He is being held in federal marshal's custody pending a detention hearing Aug. 12.